By IANS,
Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government completed three years in office Monday, vowed to focus on rural development during the remaining two years of his term.
“Our government will focus on all-round development, especially in rural areas to make Karnataka prosperous (kalyana) as the welfare of the rural people, including farmers is our top priority,” Yeddyurappa told reporters at a press meet here to mark the beginning of the fourth year of the BJP’s first government in south India.
Claiming that the state stood first or second in the country on many development indices, the chief minister said building roads, providing adequate power and healthcare in rural areas, irrigation facilities and supplying seeds and fertilisers to farmers will be the thrust of his government over the next 24 months.
“My government was first in the country to come out with a separate budget for agriculture for this fiscal (2011-12), with loans to farmers from cooperative banks at one percent annual interest, subsidised seeds and various irrigation projects,” Yeddyurappa said.
The agriculture sector registered a record six percent growth during fiscal 2010-11 as against 1.5 percent in 2008-09 when the BJP assumed office, he said.
“Though a lot more remains to be done to make the state number one on the development index, it is heartening that we have maintained law and order and ensured communal harmony during the first three years of our tenure,” the chief minister claimed.
He also took pot shots at the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) for waging a war against the government and attempting to remove him from office with the help of a “pro active governor” (H.R. Bhardwaj).
Yeddyurappa said: “The sole motive of the Congress and the JD-S has been to destabilise our government and block the state’s development. They have been unable to digest the fact that the people of this state had given us (BJP) an opportunity to serve them.
“I hope they will mend their ways and allow us to work to make Karnataka a ‘suvarna’ (golden) state in the country.”
Had the opposition provided constructive cooperation to the government, the state would have been number one in many sectors and a favourite destination for domestic and overseas investors, he said.
“It is not too late for the opposition parties to extend their support. They must respect the people’s mandate, which was in favour of the ruling party in the 2009 parliamentary elections and subsequently in most of the by-elections despite baseless allegations and unfounded charges,” Yeddyurappa added.