WATCH: Police detain former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai during protest

Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai Bommai was detained on Tuesday along with several other BJP leaders for protesting against the Congress government.

The BJP staged a protest against Congress government in the state to counter its demonstration which was held against the Centre for not “providing” rice to the state and joined by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and many Congress workers.

“This is anti-democratic and the Congress government has failed,” says former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai while being detained along with other BJP leaders in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/AOxbkq2WoY

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“We are protesting against Congress government because they are telling a lie. When they announced free rice to Karnataka’s poor people they didn’t ask for anything because it’s a big project,” former minister and BJP leader R Ashoka said.

Accusing the BJP of “hate politics”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “Food Corporation of India (FCI) wrote a letter to us saying that they have agreed to supply rice to our state. On 14th June, we got another letter stating that we can’t supply rice and wheat. What does it mean? Why they have agreed if there was no stock in FCI? They are doing hate politics. This is anti-poor.”

The deputy chief minister of Karnataka, however, said that it does not require rice from the government as it is capable enough to buy its own.

“We have spoken to Punjab, Chhattisgarh and other neighbouring states. We are going to buy grain from them. I request the central government not to do politics, you are not giving your rice, it is farmers’ rice. We don’t want free rice from anyone, the Karnataka government is capable of buying it,” DK Shivakumar said.

Previously, CM Siddaramaiah accused the centre of not allowing FCI to sell rice to the state in order to roll out Congress’ “Anna Bhagya” scheme.

The scheme, which is one of the five poll promises made by Congress, will provide Below Poverty Line (BPL) households and Antyodaya card holders 10 kg of food grains for free starting from July 1.

However, reacting to Siddaramaiah’s allegations that the Centre asked FCI to stop the direct sale of rice to states after the Congress government requested for additional sale of rice from the Corporation for its ambitious Anna Bhagya programme, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday said that the State government is lying as the Centre’s decision was decided four days prior.

With inputs from ANI

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