Bengaluru, Feb 5 (NationPress) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday accused the Congress-led Karnataka government of calling a special Assembly session without a legitimate cause, claiming it served no public interest and merely squandered taxpayer resources.

It is important to note that the Congress-led administration conducted a special session from January 22 to February 4, during which they passed a resolution opposing the “Viksit Bharat Grameen Rozgar Aajeevika Mission” (VB-GRAMG).

Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, remarked, “The state government has not justified to the public the rationale behind the special session. They asserted that the true motive was the Congress party's resistance to the Centre’s renaming of the rural employment scheme.”

He highlighted that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was initially established to guarantee 100 days of wage employment for rural inhabitants.

However, he charged that under the Congress regime, the scheme has devolved into a vehicle for corruption, with work being executed by machines, fabricated beneficiary lists being generated, and substantial funds being misappropriated.

Narayanaswamy noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi renamed the scheme to “Viksit Bharat Grameen Rozgar Aajeevika Mission” (VB-G RAM G) to realign its original purpose of aiding women, Scheduled Castes, and individuals with disabilities.

He claimed the Congress was displeased simply because the new acronym contains the term “Ram,” accusing the party of opposing anything linked to Hindu sentiments.

According to him, the Congress was merely orchestrating protests and theatrics to satisfy national opposition leaders.

Narayanaswamy further alleged that Congress representatives acted irresponsibly during the special session.

He accused Congress MLC B.K. Hariprasad of using abusive language against the RSS and making derogatory comments about women.

Additionally, he alleged that Congress MLC Naseer Ahmad referred to the Prime Minister as a “traitor,” which provoked strong public backlash.

He condemned the one-day suspension of BJP leader C.T. Ravi, asserting that he had not named anyone nor used unconstitutional language.

Narayanaswamy contended that the suspension did not comply with Assembly Rules 326 and 322, accusing the Speaker of acting rashly in the absence of the involved member.

The BJP stated it would review the legal legitimacy of the suspension and deliberate on subsequent actions.

Regarding the Bengaluru Metro fare increase, he mentioned that the government has claimed the Metro is operating at a loss and that the fare hike was a result of this situation.

Narayanaswamy indicated that the BJP would evaluate the government's stated reasons before taking further action, emphasizing that the fare hike decision lies with a state-level committee and that the Centre would not intervene.

On the issue involving the Excise Department, the BJP mentioned that discussions would be initiated with party leaders soon, asserting that the government has taken the matter personally.

The party will determine within a week the nature of its protest against the government.