Bengaluru, June 27 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

'The PMO has scheduled the appointment for 8 a.m.,' he stated.

Speaking to the media here after garlanding Kempe Gowda statue on the occasion of his 515th birth anniversary at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, CM Siddaramaiah said that he will also meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah. 'The appointment has not yet been confirmed by Amit Shah's office. However, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has confirmed the appointment,' he said.

'I am leaving for New Delhi today to meet all MPs elected from the state. I will also meet the Union Ministers. We will present a list of pending projects launched by the Central government in Karnataka. We will also urge them to sanction new projects for the state, release funds, and provide more financial resources to the state government,' CM Siddaramaiah stated.

'I will also meet Rajya Sabha members, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Irrigation Minister, and others,' he added.

On Rahul Gandhi's becoming Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, CM Siddaramaiah said that he had travelled throughout the length and breadth of the country. "He knows the issues of the country. I believe that Rahul Gandhi will efficiently shoulder the responsibility as the Leader of the Opposition,' he opined.

'Today is Kempe Gowda's 515th birth anniversary, and the government is celebrating it across the state. Kempe Gowda built the city of Bengaluru and was a pro-people ruler. During the reign of the erstwhile ruler Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara kingdom, Kempe Gowda ruled the Bengaluru region and established the city of Bengaluru,' Siddaramaiah recounted.

'He also built hundreds of lakes. The lakes were established in greater numbers during Kempe Gowda's rule. He built temples, created localities based on professions in the city, and made honest efforts to make Bengaluru a trade centre. We should not forget that if Bengaluru has become a global city in present times, Kempe Gowda is behind it,' CM Siddaramaiah stated.

'The government is celebrating Kempe Gowda Jayanti on a large scale for the first time, and we have also formed an authority in his name. His administration is a model, and I remember him at this juncture,' he maintained.

/IANS