PM Narendra Modi turns ire on 7 city Congress MLAs

BENGALURU: In his last speech in Bengaluru before the state goes to the polls, prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed the Siddaramaiah regime, singling out seven Bengaluru Congress MLAs.

For the first time, he referred to the home minister, Bengaluru development minister and the urban development minister, without taking their names, saying it was a government that presided over land-grabbing charges and the suicide of policemen. Modi also brought up the recent arrest of Shanti Nagar MLA NA Haris’ son on charges of assault, an incident that had embarrassed the Congress government considerably. One utterance that left many scratching their heads was his comment that there was “a BSM” which does the work of an ATM. When probed, party sources later said it was a reference to three Congress MLAs from Bengaluru.

“I still haven’t understood what grudge the chief minister bears against Bengaluru,” the prime minister said.


Many of the promises made in the BJP’s exclusive manifesto for Bengaluru city made their way into the prime minister’s speech at National Grounds, from allocating Rs 2,500 crore to revive Bengaluru’s lakes to making the city garbagefree. He also promised the metro network would be extended to wherever it was needed. “At the very first Cabinet meeting once Yeddyurappa ji is elected, a road map will be prepared,” Modi said.

Modi did not mention Congress president Rahul Gandhi but he did make constant jibes against the “family” that ruled India for 60 years and the government that functioned through “remote control”, a reference to the Manmohan Singh’s government. “The Congress will be reduced to PPP —Puducherry, Punjab and Parivara,” he repeated.

The prime minister is scheduled to address four rallies on Wednesday, his last, in the high-stakes electoral battle for Karnataka.