In election-bound Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong case for the return of the ruling BJP, criticized gerrymandering politics and addressed a public rally in Davanagere after receiving another rousing welcome on his seventh visit to the southern state.
The prime minister capped a busy day of public events that also included a tribute to the legendary Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya and a ride on the new metro route inaugurated by Modi.
In yet another scathing attack on the Congress, he said Karnataka was looking at it as an “ATM machine” capable of filling the coffers of its leaders.
Seeking a strong mandate for the BJP’s subsequent tenure in Karnataka, Modi said a stable government led by the saffron party is the need of the hour for rapid development of the state.
Stressing that Karnataka must be taken out of “politics of manipulation”, he said the BJP wants to make the state the driving force of a developed India, while the Congress sees it as an “ATM filling the coffers of its leaders”.
The Prime Minister’s visit – his seventh visit to Karnataka this year – assumes significance as the Election Commission is expected to announce the schedule for the Assembly elections, due by May, in the next few days.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the ‘Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research’ in Chikkaballapura area and from Whitefield (Kadugodi) to Krishnarajapura Line of Bangalore Metro in Bengaluru. He took the metro after buying a ticket.
“Karnataka has gone through a long period of opportunistic and selfish coalition governments. Karnataka has suffered losses due to such governments. Therefore, for the rapid development of Karnataka, a complete BJP majority, a stable government is necessary,” Modi said while addressing a mega rally organized by the BJP in the district headquarters town of Davangere.
“When no one gets a complete majority, will Karnataka be in bad shape or not? Do you want a strong and stable government or not? Do you want a government with a complete majority or not? The first task should be to take Karnataka out of the politics of manipulation and take it forward at a fast pace,” Modi said.
“At this point in time, Karnataka needs a full majority, a strong and stable BJP government, this is a must for a bright future for Karnataka,” he said at a public meeting that marked the culmination of the BJP’s statewide ‘Vijay Sankapla Yatra’ ahead of the Assembly elections.
The ‘Vijaya Sankalpa Yatre’ began earlier this month from four different destinations across the state in specially designed vehicles or ‘raths’ and covered all 224 Assembly segments.
Asking people if they want him to serve them and Karnataka, Modi said. “If I have to serve you and do anything for you, I will need a strong BJP government in Karnataka and you will have to make the BJP win and bring in a strong government.”
Warning that Congress leaders are starting to roam around with a “bag of false assurances” ahead of the elections, he said they made false promises ahead of the Himachal Pradesh elections but these assurances found no mention in their recent budget.
“Can we trust a Congress that makes false promises? Should they be allowed to enter Karnataka or should they be thrown out?” he asked, adding that the people of Karnataka should be careful not to give the party a chance to “play its game.”
Stating that the Congress does not have any positive program for the country and Karnataka, Modi said, so the Congress dreams and even publicly says, “Modi teri kabr kudegi” (Modi, your grave will be dug), but they do not know that people in Karnataka say “Modi tera kamal khilega” (Modi, your lotus will bloom), which is a reference to the BJP symbol.
In Davangere, Modi entered the rally site in a specially designed vehicle, which made its way to the stage along a path cut among the crowd gathered under a huge pandal.
People showered flower petals on the Prime Minister, who was accompanied in a car by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa and state BJP unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel as he passed near them.
Earlier in the day, upon arriving in Chikkaballapur to attend the inauguration of the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Modi paid his first respects to the seer, civil engineer, administrator and statesman Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya at his memorial at his birthplace Muddenahalli in Chikkaballapur district.
In his speech there, he criticized political parties that played the “game” with languages without doing enough to support them and said that they did not want students from villages, poor people and those from backward families to become doctors or engineers.
Highlighting the challenges faced by youth from villages and poor families in pursuing medical profession, he said that realizing this, the BJP government led by him has provided opportunities for medical education in Indian languages, including Kannada.
The Prime Minister, who was then in Bengaluru, inaugurated the 13.71-km Whitefield (Kadugodi)-Krishnarajapuram Metro line here, which has 12 stations and was built at a cost of Rs 4,249 crore.
He also took a ride on the newly opened subway and during his journey interacted with people from different walks of life, including subway staff and workers.
He then left for Davangere, where during his speech at a mega rally, he also criticized the coalition politics, the Congress and its leaders – Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah.
Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday party was also held in Davangere, which is in the central part of the state, in August last year and was attended by a large number of people. Following this, pressure mounted on the BJP from its local leaders to organize an even larger public meeting in the region ahead of the Assembly elections.
In Davanagere, security personnel caught a man who tried to run towards the Prime Minister’s convoy during his roadshow.
Police dismissed suggestions that it was a security breach.