Poll about people's issues, not PM Modi, says Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi slammed the BJP on Tuesday for "insulting" Karnataka by saying the state needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's blessings for development. She said at a rally in Mysuru that the BJP was trying to make this election all about Modi, rather than people's issues.

"Karnataka has been built by its people's strength and the guidance of its elders. No government blessed by Kuvempu, Basavanna and Narayanaguru would ever need a politician's blessing," she said.

The BJP's national president JP Nadda had asked the people at a rally last week to vote for the party and ensure that the state flourishes under Modi's blessings. The Congress has been attacking the BJP on that point, accusing the party of threatening the state with a discontinuation of central schemes and funding if the BJP wasn't elected.


Central funding has been constantly going down ever since the BJP came in power, said Gandhi. "Chief ministers changed, cabinet expansion never happened... the 40% government has failed you in governance," she said.

Gandhi slammed the BJP for "looting" Karnataka, accusing the party of stealing about ₹1.5 lakh crore from the poll-bound southern state. She said the state had seen many scams but very few arrests because most of the people responsible for them were from the BJP.

"Imagine what ₹1.5 lakh crore means. They could have built a 2,500 km expressway, 30 lakh homes, 100 AIIMS hospitals or even 750 km of a metro line," she said. Gandhi said the BJP stole without remorse right from the moment of the state government's inception because the very government was a stolen one. She accused the BJP of fighting on baseless issues rather than addressing people's problems.

"Who says we want Modi's qabr (grave)? No one wants that, we all want him healthy. And is this even a valid election issue?" she asked. Addressing the crowd in Mysuru, she asked the young people how many of them had government jobs. "Lakhs of posts in the government are vacant, but so many young people are unemployed," Gandhi said. All the posts, she said, come at a rate. "These belong to you, and they have stolen them," she said.

Sugarcane prices are at an all-time low as well, she said, adding that every Congress-ruled state gives a higher price.

"The BJP had come to power with 'Namma Karnataka, namma vachana'. When we question them about their promises, they have no answers," she said.

This was Gandhi's first rally in Karnataka since the May 10 assembly election was officially declared. Political parties are making one last push for the win by having major national leaders campaign in the state.