Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 4 : After Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar blamed the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government for pending bills of contractors in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party leader (BJP) leader CT Ravi said that it is the government's job to pay the pending bills.
"Pending bills are always there, once a govt is gone out of power, the bill remains and it needs to be paid (by the current govt). The government gives the commitment, sanction is done by the govt...once the work is done, it is the govt's job to pay the pending bill...govt gets the revenue collection...," Ravi told ANI
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal said that the contractors in the state are in a "bad state" and are "committing suicide."
"Contractors are in a very bad state right now in Karnataka and are committing suicide. The government is not paying the Contractors. They are supporting Andhra's Contractors," the BJP MLA told ANI.
Yatnal also attacked the Karnataka government, saying that no guarantees are being fulfilled by the state government.
"Budget will stay merely a book... No guarantees are being fulfilled by the state government... The economic state of Karnataka is very bad and hence we don't have any expectation from the budget," he said.
This comes after DK Shivakumar blamed the previous BJP government for the issue of the large backlog of unpaid contractor bills in the state.
"The association had met with him, urging the government to clear the outstanding payments," the Deputy CM had said.
Shivakumar acknowledged the challenge, noting that during the previous BJP government, significant work worth over Rs 1.25 lakh crore was initiated, but the state's budget allocation for capital work is only Rs 16,000 crore.