17,000 teachers recruited, 8,000 classrooms built by BJP govt: CM Bommai

The construction of 8,000 classrooms and recruitment of 17,000 teachers by the Education department took place during the incumbent BJP government in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday.

The chief minister made the remark on Sunday while addressing supporters during a roadshow in support of the BJP's Tiptur candidate BC Nagesh. He said these recruitments were clean and did not involve any corruption or foul play.

Taking a swipe at the previous Congress government, CM Bommai said during the rule of his predecessor Siddaramaiah, people were appointed to teaching posts without even applying for the jobs.

He claimed further that the erstwhile government was neck-deep in corruption and indulged in many corrupt practices, ranging from recruitment scams to similar irregularities in education.

Throwing his weight behind the party's candidate, CM Bommai said, "The people of Tiptur, the land of Kalpavruksha, have been supporting Nagesh. He has worked hard to make this place easily identifiable on the state's map. Our sitting MLA (Nagesh) implemented the Honnali Lift Irrigation Scheme and helped to fill up the last tank in this region. The Bhagya Lakshmi scheme introduced by the BS Yediyurappa government also helped 30 per cent of women from the minority community here."

He said the BJP government implemented the Raitha Vidyanidhi scheme, under which 75 units of power were made free of cost for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) people and education was also made free for girl students, and others.

"You need to make sure that our candidate here wins by a margin of 25,000 votes, as he brought water from the Hemavathi to this region. He also brought several crores to this area under different heads," the CM said further.

"Overall in the state, 25 lakh houses were provided with tap water in the last 70 years but since the BJP came to power, 40 lakh houses got tap water connections within three years. This would not have been possible had the Congress been in power," the CM said, adding that the BJP government has announced a number of schemes and initiatives for farmers, children of fishermen, and others.

Bommai said though the Congress has promised 10 kg rice, Rs 2000 per month to every woman, and 200 free units of power to SC/ST families, people don't have faith in them.

The Karnataka Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes is scheduled on May 13.