Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the guarantee schemes implemented by the Congress government in Karnataka would help cushion the impact of the severe drought on farmers and economically disadvantaged people.

Speaking after inaugurating development works in the Varuna Assembly constituency at Dasanur in Nanjangud taluk near here, Mr. Siddaramaiah said 217 of the State’s 240 taluks had been declared drought-hit.

Reservoirs across the State had not filled to capacity owing to inadequate rainfall, affecting Karnataka’s ability to release the stipulated quantity of water to Tamil Nadu, he said.

Claiming that Karnataka had received its lowest rainfall in decades, the former Chief Minister said farmers and economically disadvantaged families would have faced much greater hardship during the drought had the government not implemented the guarantee schemes.

The schemes had helped prevent migration by providing financial assistance and food security, he said. Women were benefiting from free travel on government buses, while unemployed youth were receiving monthly financial assistance.

Mr. Siddaramaiah credited the people of Varuna with giving him the political strength to implement these programmes.

“Had I not won the election and become Chief Minister, I would not have been able to implement these programmes. I can never forget that the people of Varuna are also behind these initiatives,” he said.

Pointing out that he had become Chief Minister twice with the support of the people of Varuna, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he had stepped down during his second tenure after having assured Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that he would relinquish the post whenever he was asked to do so.

He said he had served as Chief Minister for more than eight years across two terms — from 2013 to 2018 and from May 2023 to May 2026.

Recalling his first tenure as Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Congress had made 165 promises in its 2013 election manifesto, of which 158 had been fulfilled.

Apart from these commitments, the government had introduced around 20 to 30 additional welfare programmes, including Anna Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and Shaadi Bhagya.

The government had sought to identify and empower economically and socially disadvantaged people irrespective of their caste or religion, he said.

After returning to power in 2023, the Congress announced five guarantee schemes and implemented all of them within a year, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Confidence in D.K. Shivakumar

Referring to the present government, Mr. Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar would continue the welfare programmes and development initiatives introduced during his tenure.

He said Mr. Shivakumar had already begun implementing the party’s programmes and expressed confidence that the initiatives would be continued.