India, March 10 -- Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar has dismissed the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) criticism of the Karnataka budget as baseless, attributing the opposition's protest to jealousy. Dismissing the allegations that the budget was designed to favour specific communities, he said that it serves as a model for the nation.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Malavalli, Shivakumar accused the BJP of attempting to divide society. "The BJP has no heart. They are trying to divide people while we are working to uplift the backward sections. Let them take medicine and reduce their hunger," he said. He highlighted that the Congress-led state government has presented a Rs.4 lakh crore budget and implemented five guarantees aimed a...