Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned the people of Karnataka not to vote in a manner that leads to coalition governments.
“I am advising you against coalition governments. Most of their time and energy is lost in ensuring stability. They are engaged in unfavourable practices like buying and selling MLAs. Such governments cannot implement any welfare or development programmes and the dreams of aspiring youth are destroyed,’‘ he said at a campaign rally in Koligudda village of Belagavi district on Saturday.
“I want you to understand that Karnataka needs a stable government by a strong party and only the BJP can provide it,’‘ he said.
He accused the Congress of widespread corruption over the decades. “While their tenure was corruption kaal, ours is the Amrit kaal,’‘ he said.
In Vijayapura, he said that corruption was the accepted system of governance during the Congress rule. “A former Prime Minister of the Congress had confessed that when the Centre released one rupee, only 15 paise reached the beneficiary. However, we have proved this wrong. Since 2014, the BJP-led NDA government has released ₹29 lakh crore to the poor, through direct benefit transfer system. Even subsidised food grains were not properly available to the people of Karnataka in the Congress regime. But now they are getting enough food grains and that too free of cost,’‘ he said.
Congress leaders looted money that was supposed to go to the poor, Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs. But, the double engine government of the BJP has corrected the historical injustice, he said.
The PM criticised the loan waiver schemes by the Congress saying they were ploys to fill the treasuries of its own people, while ignoring the small farmers. “But the BJP government started the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi that has DBT benefits. In Belagavi alone, ₹1,300 crore has gone to the accounts of small farmers, who had not even seen the doors of banks,’‘ he said. He listed some irrigation projects in Karnataka as the BJP’s biggest achievements.
In both rallies, he repeatedly invoked Sri Basaveshwara. “Basavanna lies at the centre of our faith. His ideals are behind our motto of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’. We have introduced and successfully implemented welfare and developments schemes for the these sections. While there were only scandals during the Congress regime, there is welfare and development in the BJP regime, he said. All those poor homeless people who are yet to get a house, please be assured that your name will be selected soon,’‘ he said.
In his speeches, he focussed on schemes for women. “Women had remained deprived of rights and assets for decades due to the corruption in the Congress government. However, the Modi sarkar introduced several schemes for them like Ujwala, toilets, and Jal Jeevan mission. For example, three crore of the 4.2 crore houses that we have built under the subsidised housing scheme are in the name of women,’‘ he said.
“It was in Belagavi that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar listed all the swear words used against him by the Congress leaders. It has nothing but hatred for the leaders who work for the upliftment of the Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs and poor. Its leaders have no other work than to abuse me. While they raise slogans like your grave is being dug, Mr. Modi, the people of this country are busy growing lotuses all over, he said, referring to the BJP symbol.
