‘There is no Modi factor…He is frustrated, desperate, making all kinds of statements, misleading on quota’: Siddaramaiah

Since April 26, when 14 seats in south Karnataka voted in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been camping in the state’s north, where the remaining 14 seats will vote on May 7.

The OBC leader who enjoys the support of minorities and the poor across Karnataka is seen as posing a serious challenge to the BJP, which won all these 14 seats in 2019. The Congress is hoping to do well especially in the impoverished Kalyan Karnataka region (Hyderabad-Karnataka), where the Siddaramaiah government’s guarantee schemes are getting traction.

Siddaramaiah spoke to The Indian Express in Kalaburagi, just before a heli-hopping tour of the region. Excerpts:

The Central government has not approved the drought relief on its own. We went to the Supreme Court, and the Court said that in a federal system, states should not have to approach courts… Earlier the Centre delayed the matter for over seven months and did not release a single paisa. What they have given is only 19% of the amount that we sought.

We are going to take up the issue in the Supreme Court. We are going to say that the situation in Karnataka is quite bad for farmers, 48 lakh hectares of crop loss has occurred. The Court has sought the report of a Central team… it will decide the relief on the basis of it.

The relief has (also) come very late. We sought it in September 2023… It is a form of step motherly treatment.

There is no Modi factor in these polls in Karnataka or India. People now see that Modi does not implement promises… The country is not making economic progress. The problems of the poor, farmers and women have not been addressed. There is price rise, unemployment…

Narendra Modi does not speak about what he has done about all this… He