CM rubbishes Sonia's claim to have given Rs 80,000 cr to Karnataka

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Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Saturday rubbished UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's claim that the Centre had released Rs 80,000 crore to the state in the last five years and said the state was ready to provide details of grants.

"Karnataka has not received Rs 80,000 crore from the central government as claimed by Sonia Gandhi. We are ready to furnish details of grants received and spent," he told reporters.

Sonia Gandhi in her address to party leaders and workers in Mangalore on October 18 had claimed that the Centre had released Rs 80,000 crore to the state in last five years.

Shettar rejected state JDS President H.D. Kumaraswamy's charge of irregularities in construction of Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum, saying "Let Kumaraswamy provide documents exposing corruption in constructing it. If any irregularities are found, I will order an inquiry into it."

He declined to comment on senior BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa's intention to float a new political party. On Belgaum district in charge Minister Umesh Katti's controversial remarks of separate statehood for North Karnataka, Shettar blamed the media for misinterpretation.

"There is no need to attach importance to the misinterpreted statement," he said. People of North Karnataka have worked for the state's unification and would not tolerate such a demand, Shettar said.