Belagavi, 17 Dec

The Opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka Assembly, protesting the alleged non-payment of two months’ installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under the state government’s flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

The protest followed a heated debate in which BJP members accused the ruling Congress of providing misleading information on the payment status of the women’s assistance programme. Trooping into the well of the House, they raised slogans, leading to an adjournment of proceedings for over an hour.

The Gruha Lakshmi scheme, one of Congress’s five pre-poll promises, provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of Below Poverty Line families. BJP legislators claimed that installments for February and March this year were not paid, and accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of misleading the House by stating that all payments until August had been disbursed.

When the session resumed, Hebbalkar admitted that two months’ payments had indeed not been made through Direct Benefit Transfer and expressed regret for the incorrect information. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar defended her, criticising the BJP over the non-allocation of Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the Union Budget.

Opposition Leader R Ashoka insisted that the delay affected 1.26 crore beneficiaries and demanded a date for clearing the backlog. BJP MLAs walked out after the Minister’s response, arguing it was unsatisfactory, and rejecting her reference to being personally targeted.