Ahead of the Assembly elections in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public meeting at Chitradurga in the poll-bound state. Speaking at the public meeting PM Modi slammed the Congress and JD(S) and said that people of Karnataka must be wary of both JD(S) and Congress. He also said that both are corrupt and they promote dynastic politics and sow divisions in society. "I want to alert you. People of Karnataka must be wary of both JD(S) and Congress. They aren’t different. They are the same. Both are corrupt, promote dynastic politics and sow divisions in society," PM Modi said during public meeting.
PM Modi lambasted Congress over the issue of security and said that the party has had a "history of appeasement of terrorists". The Prime Minister said that unlike Congress which had left Karnataka "at the mercy of terrorists" the Bharatiya Janata Party has "broken the back" of terror and appeasement.
Referring to the 2008 Batla House encounter in which two terrorists were gunned down by a police team in their rented address in Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the Prime Minister took an apparent jibe at the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and said that she had "teary eyes" after hearing about the death of the terrorists.
"Congress has a history of appeasement of terror and terrorists. When the Batla House encounter took place in Delhi, then the biggest leader of Congress had teary eyes after getting the news of the terrorists' killings. When surgical strike and air strike happened, Congress questioned the capability of the forces of the country. "You have seen in Karnataka how Congress has promoted terror. Congress had left Karnataka at the mercy of terrorists. It is the BJP which has broken the back of terror and has stopped the game of appeasement," the prime minister said, as quoted by ANI.
The Prime Minister said there is a need to bring back the "double-engine government" back to power and said that the state has to be made a "driving force" of a developed India. "We have to make Karnataka a driving force and growth engine of a developed India. For accomplishing this, we need to bring back to power, the Double-Engine Government. The BJP has announced a good vision document which has a roadmap to make Karnataka the number one state in the country. It has a blueprint of modern infrastructure, and has impetus on the women empowerment," he said, as quoted by ANI.
Meanwhile, the prime minister tried his hands at playing a traditional drum instrument. After the public meeting at Chitradurga, PM Modi will hold rallies at Hospet in Vijayanagra and Sindhanur. The public meetings will be followed by a roadshow in Kalaburagi.
Earlier in the day, Congress released its party's poll manifesto for the May 10 Karnataka elections. The manifesto was released in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former Karnataka CM and LoP Siddaramaiah, party state president DK Shivakumar and other leaders.
Among the poll promises include 200 units of free electricity and Rs 2,000 every month to each and every woman head of the family. The party also promised to provide allowances for unemployed youths, free travel for women in regular KSRTC/BMTC buses, development of SCs and STs, and a ban on Bajrang Dal and PFI.
Speaking about the poll manifesto, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar said, “It will help us gain majority as it is people-centric. It will brand Karnataka as global Karnataka. We will try to ease the traffic in Bengaluru and ensure employment opportunities in 2 and 3 tier cities.”
The 224-member Karnataka Assembly will undergo polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13. A total of 3,632 candidates are in the fray with 707 from incumbent BJP and 651 from Congress while 1,720 candidates will contest as Independent. According to the ABP-CVoter Opinion Poll, Congress seems ahead in the race to form the next government in Karnataka with a projected seat range between 107 to 119 while BJP is expected to get seats somewhere between 74 and 86 and JDS between 23 and 35 seats. At around 40 per cent, Congress is expected to bag the most vote percentage with BJP following at 40 per cent and JD(S) at 17 per cent, and others at 8 per cent.