Bengaluru, Dec 18: Revenue minister R Ashoka on Tuesday said the government will rename Indira canteens, barring those in Bengaluru city, as 'Maharshi Valmiki Anna Kutira', drawing sharp reactions from the Congress that it was indulging in "cheap politics".
Ashoka told reporters the decision to rename the government-sponsored subsidized canteens after Valmiki following a suggestion from Shorapur MLA Narasimha Nayak (Raju Gouda). There are more than 260 Indira canteens outside Bengaluru. On why did the government leave out canteens in Bengaluru from the renaming exercise, Ashoka said: "I do not handle the Bengaluru department portfolio. The CM will make a decision on this."
The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government launched the canteens in Bengaluru in August 2017 ahead of the assembly elections and extended them to rest of the state following their huge success.
Siddaramaiah hit out at the Yediyurappa government for indulging in "cheap politics" by renaming a party-neutral scheme for the poor. He said, "The BJP government's intent to rename Indira Canteens shows it's playing cheap politics. While we are proud of Maharshi Valmiki, Indira Gandhi was a leader of this nation and not restricted to the Congress. It is an absolute shame that BJP is replacing her name with that of Maharshi Valmiki for political gain."
Launching #SaveIndiraCanteen campaign, the former chief minister said, "BJP has neither the power nor the intent to bring pro-poor schemes and it's indulging only in name-changing politics."
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