Nalin Kumar Kateel, former Member of Parliament, Dakshina Kannada, addressing a press conference in Mangaluru on Monday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Former BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Monday demanded that the state government submit a white paper on the budget allocations from the Union government to Karnataka.
Mr. Kateel, a former Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament, said that the state government was claiming that the Union government was not releasing funds to Karnataka. “The release of the white paper would clearly reveal the actual funds released by the Union government of the state,” he said.
Responding to the Karnataka State Contractors Association’s claim that the government owed ₹37,370 crore to the contractors and the state government’s claim that the bills could not be cleared due to the Centre’s failure to release its dues, Mr Kateel said that the administrative failure of the state government had led to non-payment of the contractors’ invoices.
“Karnataka will soon face a situation where there will be no funds to pay the salaries of government employees. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has presented several budgets in the past, has failed to assess the state’s revenue and expenditure before announcing the guarantee schemes. Karnataka is headed for bankruptcy due to the financial burden of the five guarantee schemes introduced by the Congress government. Why is the governor’s center not trying to respond to the Congress government. Clarification from Finance Minister Nirmaly Sitharaman on tax devolution?” asked with.
Responding to a query on Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s claim that no high-speed train will come to Bengaluru, despite the announcement in the Union Budget, citing the impracticality of 50:50 funding projects, Kateel said that most railway projects are implemented on a 50:50 cost sharing basis. “The state government does not want to implement projects run by the Center and is trying to curtail them,” he alleged.
On the state government’s opposition to the VB-G RAM G Act, Mr Kateel said the new initiative has increased the number of working days to 125 and aims to plug massive leakages, reduce corruption and improve the quality of assets created.
He said the Union Budget 2026-27 lays a solid foundation for achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat. Financial support for coconut and cocoa farming would benefit farmers in the coastal region, while duty exemptions and marine export promotion measures would boost the fishing sector.
He said the elections to municipal corporations, zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats were delayed due to power tussles between the chief minister and the deputy chief minister.
Published – 02 Feb 2026 21:18 IST