Karnataka Deputy CM receives flak on ‘Shakti’ scheme

Bengaluru, Oct 31: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday pulled up Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister over his statement that the state government would review the ‘Shakti’ guarantee.

The Congress government here has introduced Shakti, one of the five guarantees offering free ride for women in the non-luxury govt buses.

Shivakumar said on Wednesday that the government would revisit the Shakti scheme as some women have expressed their wish to pay for travelling in the govt buses.

In a humorous but subtle manner, Kharge pulled up the DCM before the media for his statement.

“You have given some guarantees. After seeing them, I too said in Maharashtra that there are five guarantees in Karnataka. Now you (Shivakumar) said you will drop one guarantee,” Kharge quipped.