This announcement was seen by his backers as a optimistic begin to a promised reform-led time period in workplace, promising to herald infrastructure progress, social justice, and an total improved high quality of life for all.
Regardless of his main concentrate on the five-guarantee schemes, Siddaramaiah actively superior the SEP by establishing a 15-member fee and halted the NEP-led syllabus in academic establishments, fueling confusion amongst college students.
Nonetheless, the SEP fee missed its preliminary deadline of 24 February 2024, and work on it’s nonetheless ongoing.
Lecturers, analysts, and members of civil society organisations assert that the SEP exemplifies the Congress social gathering’s operational method within the final two years in workplace, indicating “coverage paralysis”, at occasions. The Congress gained a thumping majority in 2023—a rarity in Karnataka’s risky political historical past—as varied caste and spiritual teams backed the social gathering, rising the hope of widespread reform and progress.
Nonetheless, the Siddaramaiah-led authorities has missed alternatives, primarily because of the ongoing clashes between Siddaramaiah and his deputy, D.Okay. Shivakumar, in addition to rising voices of dissent inside the Congress ranks, most demanding extra funds for his or her respective constituencies.
Whether or not it’s looking for consensus on the now scrapped caste census or key payments, this inner battle has prioritised politics over coverage initiatives, consultants argue.
“Congress must get its home so as. It’s ridiculous the type of energy tussle that’s occurring inside that organisation (social gathering), which is actually at the price of governance,” advocate and civil rights activist Clifton D’Rozario informed ThePrint.
The recurring corruption scandals, coverage missteps, indecisiveness, and protracted infighting have diminished the potential for efficient governance and much-needed reforms.
‘Elevating cash by promoting public belongings’
Earlier this week, the co-founder of a Mysuru-based craft rum distillery, Huli, requested if the Siddaramaiah authorities was attempting to push away companies into neighbouring states.
Aruna Urs, the co-founder of the distillery making roughly 100 rum bottles a day, was going to really feel the complete weight of the almost 100% enhance in excise licence payment renewal in Karnataka.
“Is that this @INCIndia thought of ease of doing enterprise…,” Urs posted late Monday, tagging the Chief of Opposition within the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.
The state authorities is actually forcing #huli to maneuver out of Mysuru to Goa or Maharashtra. The annual distillery licensee payment has been elevated by 50%! Is that this @INCIndia thought of ease of doing enterprise @RahulGandhi @siddaramaiah? pic.twitter.com/nZh2BAi6H8
— Aruna Urs (@Arunaurs) June 23, 2025
In lower than 24 hours, Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister Nara Lokesh reached out to Urs with a promise of a ‘tailored coverage’ to maneuver the distillery to the neighbouring state.
Urs termed the Siddaramaiah authorities’s excise coverage as “extortion”.
In lower than 24 months, the federal government has elevated the extra excise obligation on the beer business thrice and the excise obligation as soon as.
Mining royalties and taxes on items and companies, equivalent to gasoline, new autos and stamps and registration, amongst others, are up, indicating that the administration has been resorting to frequent worth hikes to offset the rising funds crunch.
Its 5 ensures would value the state over Rs 50,000 crore yearly, which, together with decrease capital inflows from the Centre, places the burden of fulfilling ballot guarantees on taxpayers or the federal government, however that will increase its debt.
NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Growth Objectives India Index 2023-24 exhibits that Karnataka has considerably improved its efficiency in ending poverty, transferring from the “performer” to the “entrance runner” class in “ending poverty in all its types in all places”—an achievement for the federal government.
Nonetheless, extra work must be executed.
“Siddaramaiah ought to be working to carry folks out of poverty and away from freebies, not thump his chest that extra persons are benefitting from the ensures or different schemes,” Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, the president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, the biggest farmer-led organisation, mentioned.
The excessive value of funding the ensures has compelled the federal government to depend on promoting its belongings to boost cash for different works. It arrange two commissions and tasked them to establish areas of useful resource mobilisation. Nonetheless, a lot of this was to promote government-acquired land to non-public events.
“The one phrase that seems loads within the price range is PPP (public-private partnerships), to which we’re letting our assets go. Making a gift of public belongings to pick out non-public gamers and never utilizing them for the larger widespread good is what some might name growth, however not by the requirements of the bigger inhabitants,” Vinay Okay. Sreenivasa from the Different Legislation Discussion board informed ThePrint.
It contains monetising land that the federal government has acquired via non-public builders or forming residential layouts in and round Bengaluru, which, activists, analysts, and members of civil society say, feeds the actual property frenzy.
Chandrashekhar mentioned he was not in opposition to giving land for industries, however successive governments have taken a whole bunch of hundreds of acres every time period. “Can they present us how a lot of this land is being utilized by industries, or if they’re simply mendacity vacant? Practically 75 p.c of commercial sheds in Bengaluru are vacant. Nonetheless, the federal government continues to accumulate extra acres of farmland. That’s not for industrial functions however for actual property,” he mentioned.
Tons of of farmers joined the ‘Devanahalli Chalo‘ march on Wednesday to mark the 1,178 days of protest by the agricultural group, resisting the federal government’s determination to accumulate 1,777 acres of fertile land for a proposed aerospace park on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The protests predate the brand new Congress authorities, however Siddaramaiah and the social gathering had supported the farmers when within the Opposition.
“Both you could depart us alone to stay our lives, or you could completely imprison us with our households and declare that corporations are extra vital to you than us,” the protestors mentioned in a letter to the Siddaramaiah authorities.
Farmer teams say that the Congress authorities has executed little to alleviate the rising agrarian misery or body insurance policies that make it extra profitable to promote land than domesticate it. Shivakumar’s insistence on increasing Bengaluru to cowl areas equivalent to Ramanagara (renamed as Bengaluru South) and different components has led to hovering land costs.
They add that in Siddaramaiah’s earlier time period, an agricultural costs fee was in place, however such initiatives are lacking this time round. Chandrashekhar and different farmer teams say the Congress authorities has not even repealed the Modi-led farm legal guidelines or the B.S. Yediyurappa-led determination—promoting farmland to non-farmers—therefore, permitting conversion of agricultural land into actual property.
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‘Defend ensures citing socioeconomics’
Since coming to energy, the Congress has been launching assure programmes and celebrating anniversaries, and it has organised a world traders assembly, activists and analysts say.
Leaders are presently busy marking the second anniversary of the Siddaramaiah-led authorities in Vijayanagara. Rahul Gandhi and different senior leaders are in attendance. On the time, the flooding in Bengaluru, the expansion engine of Karnataka, didn’t enhance the perceptions relating to the ruling social gathering.
Alternatively, Shivakumar has pushed for big-ticket tasks, such because the Rs 17,800 crore tunnel undertaking and the Rs 500 crore Skydeck, each of which don’t encourage confidence as a result of the federal government has left a lot of the prevailing issues, potholes, mismanaged rubbish, and site visitors congestion, unresolved.
In keeping with analysts and activists, the Congress has failed to carry the elections for the Bengaluru metropolis company or the panchayats, retaining energy on the state degree and disempowering native our bodies throughout Karnataka.
The federal government determination to introduce a gig staff’ welfare invoice—based mostly on the insistence of Rahul Gandhi—is being hailed as a progressive effort. Nonetheless, there isn’t any consensus inside the Siddaramaiah cupboard on it. The state info expertise division doesn’t need it, with the pursuits of start-ups and e-commerce corporations in thoughts. In the meantime, the Karnataka labour ministry is pushing for it.
Alternatively, the cupboard has stood by a call to ban draft tips for bike taxis, pushed for language-based reservation—even within the non-public sector—and diluted labour legal guidelines to draw investments.
Nonetheless, A. Narayana, a political analyst and college member at Azim Premji College, informed ThePrint that the Congress authorities had achieved rather more than its predecessors however lacked the talents to speak its successes to the general public.
“It is a good type of funds crunch,” he mentioned, arguing that earlier practices of doling out grants, both spent arbitrarily or to construct ‘samudaya bhavanas’ (group halls), had little to no long-term influence and concerned no accountability.
“The federal government should do extra to ensure that the general public perceives its choices are aware, setting the muse and unlocking the following wave of progress. The federal government shouldn’t defend the choices as a political technique however speak in regards to the bigger socio-economic influence,” Narayana mentioned.
He added that the federal government had fared nicely in demanding its dues from the Centre and promptly paid guarantee-related cash. It made the roles of civic staff, amongst others, everlasting at a time when public sector undertakings are transferring in direction of initiatives, equivalent to contractual labour and land report digitisation.
Nonetheless, Narayana additionally conceded that there was no bigger imaginative and prescient. “The federal government doesn’t have a bigger imaginative and prescient for increased schooling, city governance or only a greater imaginative and prescient on growth—solely tasks and schemes.”
Hole between Siddaramaiah authorities & stakeholders
In Could, Muslim leaders resigned from the Congress en masse in protest in opposition to the continuing retaliatory killings within the coastal district. There was one mob lynching, two brutal murders, and several other extra clashes—just some weeks aside—threatening to vitiate the atmosphere within the communally delicate coastal area of Karnataka.
The federal government blamed the BJP ecosystem and the Sangh for vitiating the atmosphere, however minorities remained unconvinced that the administration had taken steps to include the issue.
Idris Hooda, a member of the Udupi Muslim Okkoota (Muslim collective), mentioned that Siddaramaiah was a pale shadow of what he had been in his 2013-18 time period.
“The BJP authorities’s unconstitutional and inhumane legal guidelines like anti-cattle slaughter, Hijab, anti-conversion … have nonetheless not been repealed. Nor has the federal government regulated teams that spew hate or goal minorities. The hijab challenge went to the Supreme Court docket, and the Congress authorities had the chance to repair it at a coverage degree, however it has simply deserted the problem,” Hooda informed ThePrint.
The federal government introduced an anti-communal drive quickly after the homicide of Hindu activist Suhas Shetty on 1 Could. By the point it might even get on the paperwork, a retaliatory killing had left 32-year-old Abdul Rahiman brutally hacked. Muslim leaders of the Congress say their authorities did little to penalise these spewing hate.
Final week, the federal government unexpectedly launched a invoice to penalise the unfold of misinformation and hate speech, however the cupboard withheld it. The cupboard ministers objected to it as nobody had seen it or been consulted on it earlier.
In keeping with Vinay Okay. Sreenivasa from the Different Legislation Discussion board, the federal government has been “bringing in payments to curb pretend information and hate speech, however there are not any consultations. The federal government introduced the Rohith Vemula Act … all of those executed with good intent, probably, however with out even consulting the teams engaged on these particular points.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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