Bengaluru, July 1 (IANS) Targeting the Congress government in Karnataka, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka on Wednesday questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over what he termed the state’s “Karnataka Model of Governance”, alleging widespread corruption and accusing the ruling party of staging review meetings instead of ensuring accountability.
He urged Rahul Gandhi to “take a break from his daily sermons on morality” and look at the functioning of his party’s government in Karnataka.
In a strongly worded statement, Ashoka alleged that Congress ministers were “giving masterclasses in how to loot a state and then act like whistleblowers against their own government.” He claimed the government’s approach was to “loot, get caught, hold a review meeting, scream at officials, pretend to be honest, pocket the cash, and repeat.”
Claiming that the Congress government’s “hunger for public money and corruption” had become unprecedented, Ashoka alleged that even street dogs and roadside saplings had not been spared.
Referring to an alleged discrepancy in the state’s tree plantation programme, he claimed that while the government had announced the planting of 20 lakh saplings, nearly 11 lakh had “vanished into thin air” during verification. Taking a dig at the government, he remarked that these were perhaps “Congress saplings” that existed only on paper.
He also questioned the reported expenditure on the plantation programme, alleging that the cost of planting a single sapling had reached Rs 3,108. “At this rate, Karnataka isn’t planting trees — it is planting gold-plated bonsais,” he said.
Ashoka further criticised the government’s stray dog sterilisation programme, alleging that Rs 42 crore had been spent without producing visible results. He said the stray dog population continued to remain a major concern despite the expenditure.
Referring to a recent review meeting chaired by Minister Priyank Kharge, Ashoka mocked the minister’s reported remark questioning officials, saying that the same question was being asked by the people of Karnataka to the Congress government.
He accused the Congress government of routinely responding to allegations of irregularities by convening review meetings, blaming officials and projecting ministers as whistleblowers while avoiding political responsibility.
“Bureaucrats do not sanction policy, approve budgets or provide political protection. The political executive does,” Ashoka said, adding that ministers could not distance themselves from alleged irregularities after spending taxpayers’ money.
Questioning the Congress government’s accountability, Ashoka asked who had been running Karnataka over the past three years if ministers themselves were admitting that serious lapses had occurred.
He demanded that the government “stop the drama, stop the theatrics and stop using bureaucrats as political shields”, asserting that Karnataka deserved accountability rather than “another review meeting pretending that Congress is investigating Congress”.
–IANS
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