Organised under the dual banners of Sadhana Samavesha and Janata Samarpana, the rally served both as a report card on Congress’s time in office and as the launchpad for its sixth welfare initiative: Bhoo Guarantee.
Published May 20, 2025 | 6:58 PM ⚊ Updated May 20, 2025 | 7:29 PM
The rally largely served as a report card on Congress’s time in office. (X)
Synopsis: The ruling Congress in Karnataka marked two years in power with the Samarpana Sankalpa Samavesha rally in Hosapete, presenting a report card on its five welfare guarantees and launching the Bhoo Guarantee, a scheme aimed granting to marginalised communities. Senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, used the platform to criticise the BJP-led Centre for fiscal injustice, weakening federalism, and social divisiveness, while reaffirming Congress’s commitment to inclusive governance.
The Karnataka Congress government marked two years in office on Tuesday, 20 May, with a massive rally, Samarpana Sankalpa Samavesha, in Hosapete, Vijayanagara district, framing the occasion not as a celebration but as a rededication to public service.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge were received by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Jindal Airport upon their arrival.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, Social Welfare Minister Dr HC Mahadevappa, Law Minister HK Patil, and a majority of other ministers and MLAs were present at the event.
Organised under the dual banners of Sadhana Samavesha and Janata Samarpana, the rally served both as a report card on Congress’s time in office and as the launchpad for its sixth welfare initiative: Bhoo Guarantee.
Framed as the sixth guarantee and launched formally at the public meeting, the Bhoo Guarantee scheme aims to address a longstanding gap in land rights for Dalit, Adivasi, and other marginalised communities who have lived on land for decades without legal ownership.
“Bhoo Guarantee is the most important scheme, according to me, which will benefit a lot of families,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“When we discussed guarantee schemes, we had also discussed another important issue. I had got to know that a lot of people have land but do not have ownership rights on the land they are living on due to lack of documents.”
LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge were received by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Jindal Airport upon their arrival.
He pointed to the systemic exclusion of entire hamlets and communities from the revenue records:
“Dalit and Adivasi hamlets were not considered as revenue villages or revenue pockets. Hence, they did not get any government facilities and schemes. They lived on this land for many years without proper documents and papers.”
Gandhi announced that one lakh people would receive title deeds under the scheme immediately and that over 2,000 habitations would be declared revenue villages – thereby enabling access to infrastructure, subsidies, and government services.
“My intention was simple – that any person who has been living on land for many years must have ownership rights and deeds… It was the dream of Indira Gandhiji and we have taken a big step on this path to fulfil her dream.”
The scheme also includes a digital land registry, intended to provide secure access to records and prevent future disputes.
“You will have a hard copy of these documents but you can also access this digital registry any time. This will benefit all the communities, including Bhovi, Banjara, Naik and others.”
Gandhi further committed to completing 50,000 more title deeds in the next six months and announcing 500 additional revenue villages, instructing district-level committees to ensure doorstep delivery of documents:
“No citizen must suffer without ownership rights over land.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar called the scheme a form of moral restitution:
“We are giving the Bhoo Guarantee scheme as the sixth guarantee to repay our debt to the people of the state who have blessed us with power.”
He praised Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda’s department for what he termed a historic exercise in legal inclusion and used the opportunity to announce the seventh guarantee – full digitisation of land records across the state.
Similarly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said:
“We had promised five guarantee schemes meant to empower people irrespective of their religion or caste. This is an extension of that promise.”
Since its return to power in May 2023, the Congress government has made its “five guarantees” the central pillar of its governance model. At the Hosapete rally, the party described them as a success.
“Our first guarantee scheme of Gruha Lakshmi, which ensured ₹2,000 for over one crore women every month, was fulfilled. I am happy that the Karnataka government credits ₹2,000 into every woman’s bank account in the state,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Our second guarantee scheme was to provide 200 units of free electricity, and that too was fulfilled. Under the Anna Bhagya scheme, four crore people are being given free rice – ten kgs per person. Our Shakti scheme empowers women to travel in buses for free, and over 500 crore free rides have been completed in Karnataka. Under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, three lakh youth are being given ₹3,000 every month.”
Gandhi further rejected the criticism that these schemes were fiscally unsustainable or populist, arguing instead that they represented a more equitable use of public revenue:
“Our motive was to ensure that the tax money paid by you is directly credited into your bank accounts.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar echoed this sentiment, describing the welfare initiatives as a form of repayment:
“We are not here to celebrate completing two years in office. We are here to repay the debts of the people of Karnataka and dedicate ourselves to their service.”
The Bhoo Guarantee scheme aims to address a longstanding gap in land rights for Dalit, Adivasi, and other marginalised communities.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah similarly said the guarantees echoed the party’s ethos.
“We came to power on 20 May 2023 and implemented the first guarantee scheme of Shakti on 11 June. In July, we launched the Gruha Jyoti and Anna Bhagya schemes,” he said.
“In August, we launched Gruha Lakshmi in Mysuru, and in January, we launched the Yuva Nidhi scheme. Within a year, we have launched five schemes. Only the Congress government can fulfil the promises made to the people.”
He continued: “In my first term as Chief Minister in 2013, out of 165 promises made, we fulfilled 158. We formulated and implemented 30 new programmes that were not announced in the manifesto. Therefore, in total, 208 programmes were implemented.”
By contrast, he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of consistently falling short of its own commitments:
“BJP leaders had made 600 promises in their 2018 manifesto, but they could not fulfil even 10 percent of those. This is the difference between BJP and Congress. They are good at lying to the people.”
If the Congress government’s welfare schemes formed the core of the party’s messaging at the Hosapete rally, its criticism of the Union government served as a supporting act. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of weakening the principles of cooperative federalism.
“As per the 15th Finance Commission, we have incurred losses of ₹13,000 crore every year,” Siddaramaiah said.
“We also pay ₹4,50,000 crore in taxes to the government, whereas we get only ₹65,000 crore in return from the Centre. For instance, if we give ₹100 as tax, we get only ₹14 or ₹15 in return.”
The Chief Minister described this imbalance not merely as an accounting issue, but as a structural denial of the state’s rightful share.
He pointed out that despite being expected to co-fund centrally sponsored schemes to the tune of ₹46,000 crore in 2024–25, Karnataka had received only ₹18,000 crore in return.
“The remaining ₹4,500 crore was not given. The state has given ₹24,000 crore towards these schemes. We have done our duty,” he added.
He also flagged the Centre’s non-compliance with Finance Commission recommendations, citing unmet allocations for critical infrastructure:
“The former president of the 15th Finance Commission had advised the Centre to provide ₹5,495 crore to the state for development. But we have not received a single penny. They also recommended ₹3,000 crore for the development of Bengaluru’s peripheral ring roads, and ₹3,000 crore for lakes.”
Siddaramaiah also criticised the Union government’s failure to implement its own budget announcements.
“In [Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s] budget announced in Parliament, they said they would provide ₹5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra project. Basavaraj Bommai, former CM, had also promised the same, calling it a flagship project of the Central government. However, nothing has happened so far.”
He once again accused the BJP’s Karnataka leaders of failing to lobby for state interests:
“None of the BJP or JD(S) state leaders in the Centre has asked the PM to release funds for this project.”
The Congress further accused the BJP of corruption, misgovernance, and of fuelling social venom
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah brought back the 40 percent commission allegation that became a flashpoint during the previous BJP regime under Basavaraj Bommai.
“There were allegations of a 40 percent commission under the previous BJP government. We fought against this. After coming to power, we formed a Nagamohan Das Committee to investigate. The report pointed towards the commission business in allocating contract works,” he added.
Siddaramaiah positioned this as a matter of both moral and administrative reform, noting that his government had made transparency a governance priority – contrasting it with what he termed a culture of kickbacks and favouritism under the BJP.
The Chief Minister also hit out at the current BJP–Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) alliance, describing it as politically expedient and ideologically hollow.
“Now JD(S) and BJP have come together. But BJP has never come to power on its own. Except through Operation Kamala in 2018, BJP has never won a majority in the state.”
He further criticised the BJP for fuelling social venom:
“BJP always wants to create conflicts between religions and castes. They are known for destroying peace and harmony. We must unite and live in harmony.”
Siddaramaiah invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Sarvodaya to underline the Congress’s ideological moorings:
“Gandhiji spoke about Sarvodaya, which means equality among different communities, irrespective of colour, creed, caste, language or culture. We are making sincere efforts to walk on the path of unity in diversity.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar echoed the chief minister, stating:
“Opposition parties are criticising us. Criticisms die, but good work lives on. Our schemes are proof of that… The Opposition is criticising us because they cannot digest our accomplishments. Irrespective of criticism, we will continue to do good work.”
AICC President President Mallikarjun Kharge targeted the Centre’s foreign policy, stating that the BJP’s efforts have been a failure despite the enormous financial costs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent travel abroad.
“PM Modi has been making frequent foreign trips for the last 11 years, but when India needed international support to expose Pakistan, no other country came forward to support us,” Kharge said.
“In the last 11 years, Prime Minister Modi has made 151 foreign trips and visited 72 countries. Out of these, he has visited the US 10 times. Yet, our country stands alone under the Modi government’s foreign policy.”
He continued: “The IMF [International Monetary Fund] has provided a bailout loan of $1.4 billion to Pakistan. But nobody supported India’s stance. A ceasefire was suddenly declared while our brave Armed Forces were conducting operations against terrorists.”
Kharge criticised the Prime Minister for his silence over former United States President Donald Trump’s repeated public claims that he had “brokered” the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
“The US President insulted our country by saying, ‘I brokered’ the ceasefire between India and Pakistan – and repeated this not less than seven times,” he said.
“The entire country was united in taking tough action against terrorists, but Modi ji is trying to cover up the issue by not providing clarity regarding US President Trump’s statements so far.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
