The budget size this year will be at least Rs. 25000 crores more than the earlier budget presented by the former CM Basavaraj Bommai government. The budget to be presented on July 7th, 2023 will be about 3.35 lakh crore,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah highlighted on Monday while addressing the inauguration of the three-day training program for the first time MLAs. The program was organized by legislative assembly speaker UT Khader in Bengaluru. It is pertinent to mention that the former CM Bommai presented a budget of Rs. 3.09 lakh crore. The Chief Minister said that the budget this year will be increased to make provision for the implementation of Congress’s five poll guarantees as the government’s requirement for the schemes is Rs. 60k crores annually.
For the upcoming budget, CM Siddaramaiah is likely to tap into robust economic growth, mobilize resources, fund development, welfare measures, tax buoyancy, and Congress party’s five guarantee schemes. Taking a dig at BS Yeddiyurappa’s announcement that he will sit on ‘dharna’ (demonstration) in front of Vidhan Soúdha and stage ‘Satyagraha’ inside and outside the House (assembly) to ensure the Congress government initiates its five guarantee schemes, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called it a political gimmick to distract innocent people and said that Yediyurappa as state BJP President made several promises at the 2018 BJP Manifesto but he failed to fulfill those promises after becoming CM. Siddaramaiah further said that Yediyurappa has no right to point fingers at the Congress Government. The CM said, “After becoming the finance minister in the HD Deve Gowda Cabinet I started cherishing the desire to become CM. When Deve Gowda offered me the finance portfolio, I was a bit hesitant as I was not the subject expert and had the least knowledge of finance. Later, I interacted with finance experts to familiarize myself with the subject. I discussed with economists before presenting my first budget. ” On this occasion, he requested the newly elected MLAs to read and understand the financial statements, the structure of the budget, and taxation. He also urged MLAs to understand and read the principles of the Constitution, acquire knowledge of the parliamentary language, and become subject experts. The CM said, “If you do not know the Constitution, there is no way you will become a good Parliamentarian.” He also made the new MLAs understand the significance of and encouraged them to attend the house regularly. 55 of the 69 first-time MLAs participated in the session.