Kumaraswamy to address 'burning issues'

Bangalore, June 14: Stung by adverse response to the foreign jaunt of Karnataka legislators in July, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has backed out of the trip.

As a face-saver for cancelling the trip,Kumaraswamy told reporters here on Wednesday: "There are several burning problems that the state is facing, I am not going on any foreign trip and instead will focus on solving these problems."

He was scheduled to leave for China on a week-long jaunt from June 18 to study development modules that can be replicated in his Ramanagaram constituency. Legislators are scheduled to go in batches. The cost to the exchequer is Rs 2 lakh per member.

Keeping the CM company in Bangalore will be senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun M Kharge and N Dharam Singh. Both have decided against going. "There are lot of problems pertaining to farmers, seeds, fertilisers," Singh said, adding he had not seen China. However, a senior legislator said there was nothing wrong in the jaunt. "We have the legislature committee members going to New Delhi to hold meetings. From there they go to Kashmir, Kashi and the expenditure is around Rs 1.80 lakh per member.

Everyone is aware that it is less of meetings and more of sight-seeing. And China happens to be a developing country."

A visibly irked Kumaraswamy said: "After becoming the CM, I have made only one trip abroad and that too pertained to attracting investors to the state. In fact, the Centre had on threefour occasions suggested to me to go abroad, but I had declined as I had to concentrate on the problems confronting the state."

On the 300 legislators going on a jaunt after the legislature session in July, the CM said: "I have nothing to do with it. It is Assembly Speaker Krishna's decision. Ask him."

Krishna told TOI: "There's lot to learn from China on irrigation and power fronts... a legislator gets Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh per year to tour India. Instead of sending them on India tour every year, we have decided to send them abroad."

OneIndia News

Related Stories

>