Bangalore: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified on Sunday that central transfers to Karnataka have "increased substantially" and accused the state government of spreading "misinformation" regarding this issue.

During a press conference, Sitharaman criticized the Siddaramaiah-led state government for falsely claiming that the Centre does not allocate Karnataka its due share. She emphasized that these allegations are misleading and not beneficial to anyone, including the people of Karnataka.

"The current government in Karnataka keeps telling people that the central government doesn't give Karnataka its due. Completely false... I am willing to answer, but it is the wrong advertisement that the current government in Karnataka keeps doing, which I am sorry is not helping anybody, let alone the central government. Even the people of Karnataka are not getting the factual information," Sitharaman stated.

Sitharaman compared the funds allocated to Karnataka during the previous UPA government's tenure with those provided under the current NDA government. She highlighted that between 2004 and 2014, when the UPA was in power, Karnataka received ₹81,791 crores over ten years. In contrast, from 2014 to 2024, under PM Modi's leadership, Karnataka received ₹2,95,818 crores. Additionally, she noted that grants in aid amounted to ₹60,779 crores under the UPA, whereas they reached ₹2,39,955 crores under PM Modi.

Her comments came in response to the dissatisfaction expressed by the Congress government in Karnataka over her budget presentation. The state government claimed that Karnataka had been completely ignored in the Union Budget. As a form of protest against the perceived neglect, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah boycotted the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27.

Congress leader DK Shivakumar expressed his disappointment with the union government, stating, "We have high respect for the finance minister and expect funds to finish the pending projects in the state. We expected her to protect the interests of the people of Karnataka. We are massively disappointed with the ignorance of the union government towards our state."

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