CM Announces ₹50-Cr Grant for Constituencies

With rising discontent within the Congress legislature over alleged inadequate development funds, chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced a ₹50 crore grant for each assembly constituency, aiming to defuse tensions among party MLAs.

- Arun Dev

BENGALURU: The funds are expected to be released in July, and officials have been instructed to prioritize works based on legislators' recommendations, said a leader in the know of the development.

The move follows a series of public outbursts from senior Congress leaders, including BR Patil, NY Gopalakrishna, Belur Gopalakrishna and Raju Kage, who flagged slow project execution, inadequate bureaucratic responsiveness, and underwhelming infrastructure development in their constituencies. To address these issues directly, the chief minister will soon begin daily breakfast meetings with small groups of MLAs to hear grievances and resolve them, the leader quoted above said.

Siddaramaiah on Wednesday evening met disgruntled Congress MLAs BR Patil and Raju Kage after returning from Delhi. According to officials, housing minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan was also present at the meeting, in the wake of Patil's allegation.

The leader quoted above said that the chief secretary has asked all departments to act promptly on requests made by MLAs, particularly those concerning constituency-level development, while maintaining legal compliance.