BJP demands Siddaramaiah to clear last year's Gruha Lakshmi scheme arrears before demitting office

BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar on Saturday urged outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to explain the fate of Rs 5,000 crore allegedly meant for beneficiaries of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, claiming that payments for February and March 2025 had not reached eligible families.

He said he should pay the dues to the beneficiaries before demitting office.

In a letter addressed to Siddaramaiah, the Rajajinagar MLA said the issue was first raised in the Assembly by BJP legislator Mahesh Tenginakai during the winter session at Belagavi's Suvarna Soudha on December 9, 2025, and remained unanswered despite the passage of five months.

"As the person who had complete control over the state treasury, it is your responsibility to inform the people of the state about the status of the Gruha Lakshmi payments for February and March 2025 that were meant to reach the beneficiaries. This is a question of the moral responsibility of any government," Suresh Kumar said.

The BJP leader recalled that Tenginakai had alleged in the Assembly that payments under the Congress government's flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme for February and March 2025 had not reached families across the state.

"He alleged that the Gruha Lakshmi payments for February and March 2025 had not reached families in the state. The total amount involved was Rs 5,000 crore," he said in the letter.

Suresh Kumar said a minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet had initially claimed that the payments had been made, but Tenginakai later produced documentary evidence in the House to show otherwise and sought an explanation from the government.

Referring to the alleged missing funds, he said, "Even today, the citizens of the state do not know where this huge sum of money went or who received it." The MLA termed the amount substantial and said the failure to deliver the money to beneficiaries could not be treated as a minor lapse.

He further said that as both Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Siddaramaiah bore responsibility for clarifying the matter and accounting for public funds collected through taxes.

"I urge you to discharge that responsibility honestly and provide the people of the state with a clear explanation regarding the fate of this enormous amount of public money," Suresh Kumar said.

The non-payment of the Gruha Lakshmi guarantee offering Rs 2,000 to 1.26 crore women head of the families belonging to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) for the months of February and March had led to the uproarious scene in the Belagavi session of Karnataka Assembly.

The opposition BJP and its ally had even staged a walkout in protest on December 17.