Bengaluru, June 4 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka has demanded that the Karnataka government headed by D.K. Shivakumar publish a Financial White Paper on the state’s finances, citing the example of Kerala.

Referring to the Kerala government’s move, Ashoka said that Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan has done the right thing by tabling a financial white paper and placing the true state of public finances before the people. He said Karnataka must adopt a similar approach.

He urged Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and the state government to present a detailed financial white paper in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly without delay.

Ashoka further stated that the people of Karnataka have the right to know the financial legacy left behind by the previous administration led by Siddaramaiah. He raised questions over the state’s debt burden, fiscal condition, and what he described as “reckless spending and vote-bank politics” during earlier years.

He asked how much debt has been accumulated, what the actual fiscal situation of the state is, and how much financial stress has been passed on to future generations due to what he termed mismanagement.

The Leader of Opposition said that if the government has nothing to hide, it should immediately present a white paper in the Assembly so that the public can see the state’s financial records clearly.

He added that Karnataka deserves transparency and accountability, and said the people must be informed about what he called the “true cost” of the previous government’s fiscal decisions.

Earlier, the BJP leader had accused the Congress government of pushing Karnataka into an “insurmountable ocean of debt” and claimed that developmental activities had come to a standstill.

The BJP previously demanded that former CM Siddaramaiah release a white paper to disclose the exact financial health of the state treasury prior to budget presentations.

It can be recalled that the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in his last press conference as the CM, rejected claims that Karnataka’s “Guarantee Schemes” had bankrupted the treasury, highlighting strong fiscal performance. He pointed out that the state ranks second nationwide in GST collections, behind only Maharashtra.

Siddaramaiah noted that Karnataka’s growth rate of 8.1 per cent exceeded the national average of 7.4 per cent. He defended his debt management, stating that the state’s fiscal deficit remained within the 3 per cent limit set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, with debt standing at approximately 24.94 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

–IANS

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