Speaking to reporters after attending the function organized on the death anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram at Vidhan Soudha, he said, "We will have to start a movement against the closure of Bharat Rice by the Central Government. If despite having rice reserves they are unable to provide rice, it is because of political malice.

CM Siddaramaiah alleged that Bharat Rice was introduced for election purposes and they have discontinued it after the elections are over.

“The central government is doing this to defame our government. This makes sense if there is no stock of rice, in this case, they have the rice but they are not making it available. CM Siddaramaiah said, "When we approached the central government to give rice under the free rice program 'Anna Bhagya', they refused to give rice even though they have enough stock in the Food Corporation of India."

“It is absolutely clear that the central government is not with the Dalits, the poor and the backward. There are poor people in all castes, when the state government wanted to give rice to those poor sections of the society they refused to give rice,” CM Siddaramaiah reiterated.

“Then we were forced to buy rice. The Central government has deliberately not provided rice to Karnataka,” he said.