Blaming the Centre for being directly responsible for the increase in prices of petroleum products in the country and the NEET examination paper leak, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) also accused the BJP of dividing the society and country by driving a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi tailed U.S. President Donald Trump around and also spoke of the Trump administration returning. When the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even express anguish. ... He is directly responsible for the price rise. Only Adani and Ambani have profited in Mr. Modi’s regime and the common man and middle class have not. Those who voted for Mr. Modi are disappointed,” the Chief Minister said at the convention organised in Tumakuru to mark the third anniversary of the Congress government in Karnataka.

On the NEET paper leak, he said, “The Centre rejected our suggestion to follow our CET model. NEET exam cancellation has affected 22 lakh students.”

Counter-attack on Modi

The attack on BJP by Mr. Siddaramaiah seemed to counter Mr. Modi, who, during his visit to Bengaluru, had ridiculed the State government and attacked the Congress on various issues including the leadership tussle.

The BJP, in its bid to come to power, Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged, was driving divisions between Hindus and Muslims. “The BJP is dividing the society and the country. We do not practice revenge politics and we provide governance that ensures peace,” he noted.

Ridiculing the BJP’s “Gujarat model of governance”, the Chief Minister said, “BJP has been ruling the state for 35 years, including Mr. Modi’s term from 2001 to 2014. Despite this, the State has not developed. Recently, at Morbi, a landlord raped a woman and her 13-year-old daughter because the woman’s husband could not pay rent of ₹2,000. The BJP should be ashamed.”

250 of 592 promises fulfilled

Drawing attention to the achievement of his government, which will complete three years on Wednesday (May 20), Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Of the 592 promises made in the 2023 manifesto, the government has implemented more than 250 promises. Efforts will be made to fulfill the remaining promises. We have implemented our five guarantees within the first year. So far, ₹1.4 lakh crore has been spent on guarantees. Nobody is being discriminated based on caste or religion in their implementation. Ours is a model government.”

He said that when the Congress announced guarantees, Opposition parties said that it cannot be implemented. “Even the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) said it cannot be implemented and that if implemented, the State would go bankrupt. The Opposition also said that it would empty the treasury and development works would be affected. However, we have initiated development works along with guarantees.”

Recalling his previous tenure (2013-2018), the Chief Minister said: “We implemented 158 of the 165 promises made to the people in the manifesto. Apart from them, 30 flagship programmes were implemented that were not part of the promises in the manifesto.”

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that all the States in India were copying Congress’ guarantees in Karnataka to tackle the issue of price rise. “The guarantee scheme is a model for the world.”

A host of Cabinet ministers, including Tumakuru district in-charge Minister and Home Minister G. Parameshwara, were present.

Tumakuru to become North Bengaluru?

After Ramanagara district was renamed as Bengaluru South by the State government, the demand to name Tumakuru as Bengaluru North came from Home Minister G. Parameshwara, who has been pushing for Metro connectivity to Tumakuru, about 60 km from the State’s capital.

On Tuesday, he urged Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, “Considering the proximity, make Tumakuru part of Bengaluru. As Ramanagara was renamed Bengaluru South, Tumakuru can be called Bengaluru North.”