Opposition put flowers in ear as Karnataka CM presents state budget

As Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai started presenting the 2023-24 Budget in the assembly on Friday, former chief minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders were seen sporting flowers in their ears as a mark of protest. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders came to the assembly with flowers in their ears.

Congress leaders alleged that the BJP government has cheated people by not fulfilling promises from the previous budget and the 2018 manifesto. The opposition has called the state government's budget #KiviMeleHoova, a Kannada proverb which means if one is fooling the other person, he/she would say stop by putting up a flower in his ear.

A ruckus ensued as Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah claimed that present CM Basavaraj Bommai made false promises to people. The speaker requested the legislators to keep quiet and let the CM present the budget, but they kept protesting.

Basavaraj Bommai on Friday presented the 'revenue-surplus' budget ahead of assembly elections, at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. Ram Mandir construction will be taken up in Ramanagara, he said. Ahead of presenting the budget, CM Bommai visited Srikantheshwara and Sri Anjaneya Swamy temples.