Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a rally in Karnataka's Bagalkote, and told the audience that their votes would help strengthen the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government and help make the country one of "the top three economies in the world". It's the BJP's resolution to make India a manufacturing hub, and a skill centre, he added. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said “these resolutions can't be fulfilled by those who enjoy vacations."
The rally at Bagalkote was one of four the PM is scheduled to address on Monday, IANS reported.
Speaking about the current Karnataka government, led by the Congress, Modi alleged that it would lose the capacity to pay its employees in the near future. “To all the government employees of the state, I want to tell you something that will shock you, the days are not far away when the state government will be unable to pay you,” PM Modi said. “They will create a situation in which your children will die hungry... Which is why all the experienced people, and even history, say 'Congress aayi, tabaahi laayi (Congress has brought destruction with itself').”
He said the Congress was not running a government in the state but an "extortion gang". The Congress, he added, is "looking for places from where it can steal money and fill its own pockets".
“Karnataka and Bengaluru are known as tech hubs all over the world, and it has made a name for itself, but the Congress has turned this tech hub into a ‘tanker hub’,” he added, commenting on the recent water shortage, and reports of an alleged tanker mafia exploiting the crisis.
The Congress, he said, "has also managed to take a commission from this crisis". "But, the Congress is not happy with just this, they are dreaming of committing scams like the 2G scam, worth lakh crores,” he added.
Modi also spoke about the Neha Hiremath murder in Hubballi, and said “the Congress started attacking the dignity of that daughter to save their 'vote bank'”. The PM was referring to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah's comment that the murder, committed by a former classmate who is accused, happened due to personal reasons. PM Modi also brought up the alleged recent incident where a shopkeeper was attacked for playing the Hanuman Chalisa during Azaan time.