Over the state government’s claim of discrimination, the BJP state unit of Karnataka asked CM Siddaramaiah to release a white paper detailing the state’s finances and allocations received from the Union Government. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said that Karnataka's Congress protest in New Delhi on February 7th is aimed at diverting people’s attention. The state congress government is struggling to implement the guarantee schemes due to funds shortage, he added. Joshi said that the ruling government of Karnataka due to its administration failures is simply blaming the Central government.
Former CM BS Yediyurappa claimed the decline in Karnataka’s share to 3.6% in the 15th Finance Commission is directly due to the Siddaramaiah’s Congress government. BJP claimed that under Modi’s leadership, substantial allocations were made for the road, metro expansion, airport and highway development, and other welfare schemes. Funds received by Karnataka under PM Modi is over Rs. 2 lakh crores whereas during the UPA government, the state received Rs. 60k Crore. Former PM HD Deve Gowda criticized the guarantee schemes in the state and said, “The Congress government is spending money on unproductive works. The state government guarantee schemes are killing the state’s development and the schemes are temporary and for short-term gains. Karnataka’s Congress government wasn’t able to give jobs to youth also. They are going to have a big protest in New Delhi today. With this kind of expenditure, we are making so many guarantees unproductive,” he added.