Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday extolled the value of generosity and humanity while endorsing allocating ₹10 crore for Wayanad flood affected people in neighbouring Kerala.

Many people were killed and hundreds of families were rendered homeless due to the landslides in Wayanad on July 30, 2024.

The Chief Minister’s reaction came after Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Assembly R. Ashoka said that the State government was setting a wrong precedence by allocating only ₹95,000 to rebuild houses for the Karnataka flood affected people and ₹10 lakh each for the Wayanad landslide families.

Replying to him in the Assembly, Mr. Siddaramaiah said there was a massive flood in Wayanad.

“It’s obvious for States to come in support of each other in times of distress. We should be generous and human in this federal system,” he said.

He added that he had announced giving ₹10 crore last year in June itself when the calamity struck Wayanad, the constituency now represented by Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

BJP MLA C.N. Ashwath Narayan sought to know what the State government would do for Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kashmir which were hit by cloud burst and massive landslip.

In reply, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State government decided to help Kerala for being Karnataka’s neighbouring State.

The issue led to a war of words between the Congress and the BJP on Thursday.

The BJP took a swipe at Mr. Siddaramaiah by calling him the ‘Chief Minister of Kerala’ for showing generosity towards Wayanad.