Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, and several ministers and legislators staged a dharna in Bengaluru to protest against the Centre’s alleged injustice in releasing drought relief funds to the state. The leaders held a symbolic protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, accusing the Centre of cheating Karnataka by not providing adequate relief for the severe drought faced by the state. The state government has declared 226 out of the total 236 taluks in Karnataka as drought-hit, with a crop loss in 48 lakh hectares of land. Siddaramaiah stated that the union government only released Rs 3,454 crore, a fraction of the Rs 18,171 crore demanded by the state for drought relief. This amount was released only after the state approached the Supreme Court. The leaders demand fair and sufficient financial assistance from the Centre to tackle the unprecedented drought situation in Karnataka.