Bengaluru, Feb 2 (Reporter) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, MLAs and MLCs will stage a protest in New Delhi on February 7 against step motherly treatment of the state by the Central government, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said. "Protest has become inevitable. All the legislators will reach Delhi on February 6 and hold a protest on February 7. We will be inviting all the MPs from the state. It is time for us to protect the interest of the state," he told reporters here. Shivakumar alleged that the state has lost revenue of close to Rs 62,000 crore in the last 5 years due to the Centre's attitude. "Karnataka has been getting a raw deal in the union budgets," he added. Siddaramaiah, Cabinet ministers, MLAs and MLCs also will be participating in the protest, the DyCM said, adding that a letter has been shot off to the Centre in this regard. The Deputy CM said grants for Karnataka have only gone up from Rs 46,000 crores in 2018-19 to Rs 50,000 in 2022-23, despite the doubling in size of the union budget. He urged MLAs and MLCs of the Opposition parties to be part of the protest to seek justice. He said Karnataka has got a raw deal in yesterday’s union budget even though it is the second highest tax contribution to the country’s exchequer. "There are 27 MPs out of 28 from the BJP, and yet they haven't been able to get justice to the state," the Congress leader alleged. Shivakumar alleged that budgetary allocations for the state have come down by 40-45 percent since 2018-19. This has increased the debt burden on the state, he added. The Centre had announced Rs 5,200 crore for the Upper Bhadra project, Bengaluru Metro, but no funds have been released yet, Siddaramaiah said. "I have written to the Union ministers concerned but haven’t got any respite. This is nothing but step-motherly treatment towards the state," he said. The state is also reeling under severe drought, but not a single paisa has been released by the Centre, Shivakumar said. "We even requested the Centre to increase the number of man days of MGNREGA from 100 to 150. Nothing has been done in this regard," he said...////...