‘This election is not about you’: Rahul Gandhi hits out at PM in poll-bound Karnataka
Accusing Prime Minister Modi of being abused 91 times, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Narendra Modi should understand that Karnataka elections are not about him.
Asking the Prime Minister to talk about the Bharatiya Janata government’s performance and future plans for Karnataka, instead of talking about himself, the former All India Congress chief took a dig at Modi’s statement about his verbal abuse.
“You (Modi) are coming to campaign in Karnataka. What will you do in the next five years, what will you do against youth, education, health and corruption,” Gandhi said.
Addressing a rally in Tumakuru district, Gandhi said, “This election is not about you, it is about the people of Karnataka and its future. You say Congress abused you 91 times, but you don’t talk about what you did to Karnataka. In the next speech, you talk about what you have done and what you will do in the next five years.
Targeting the Congress for its ‘venomous snake’ by Congress president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Modi said that so far the party and its leaders have hurled various slurs at him 91 times.
Gandhi said that when he came to Karnataka, he would talk about party leaders like Siddaramaiah, DK Sivakumar and their work. ) Take the name of Yeddyurappa (former Chief Minister) and all your speeches are about Narendra Modi.
“Take the Bommai and Yeddyurappa’s name once or twice and they will be happy,” he said.
Stating that this election is about the people of Karnataka, youth, mothers and sisters, Gandhi said, “This election is not about one person, not about Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister should understand this,” he said.
All India Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal and state Congress leaders participated in the general meeting.
During his speech, Gandhi highlighted the Congress election guarantees of 200 units of free electricity (Gruha Jyoti) to all households, monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 to the female head of each family (Gruha Lakshmi), and 10 kg of free rice to each member of a PPL family. (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both aged 18-25) for two years (Yuvanidhi) and free travel for women in public transport buses (Sakhi).
Accusing the BJP of rampant corruption in Karnataka in the last 3 years and “taking 40 per cent commission on all kinds of work done by the government”, Gandhi said instead of doing public welfare work, “they looted”. The Common Man and the Poor”.
“This scam and 40 percent commission is not unknown to the Prime Minister.. He knows everything.. So, my question to the Prime Minister is whether you have taken any action despite knowing about this looting for the last 3 years. ? You didn’t. Why? You have to answer this to the people of Karnataka,” he said.
He also demanded that the Prime Minister answer what he did to get his rightful share of Karnataka’s tax revenue, how he helped the state during floods and how he tried to resolve the inter-state water issue between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
Urging people to ensure that the BJP, which is “involved in 40 per cent corruption”, gets only 40 seats, Gandhi appealed to the Congress to give at least 150 seats so they (BJP) do not buy MLAs. The democratically elected government must be overthrown.