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Escalating his attack on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over graft, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday new scams, corruption charges and fresh allegations were emerging under him “every day”.
Taking the battle to Siddaramaiah’s home turf at a rally in Mysuru, Modi said he had earlier called his administration a “10 per cent commission government” but later came to know his information was not correct and that the cut the government got was much more.
In his second public rally in a fortnight in poll-bound Karnataka, Modi singled out corruption to attack Siddaramaiah and asked the gathering: “Do you want a commission government in Karnataka or mission government? Commission or mission?”
Recalling his Bengaluru remark that “it is a 10 per cent commission business,” Modi said many people were angry with him, some even called him, some sent messages and others expressed their anguish. “They said my information was not correct. It was not 10 per cent, but more than that,” he said.
“Every day, a new scam, new corruption, new allegation is being levelled against their one or the other leader, against one or the other minister or one or the other programme of the government, in one or the other part of Karnataka,” Modi said.
He alleged central government funds under various schemes meant for the poor and middle class were not being properly utilised by the state.
“Their priority is political squabble, keeping Delhi (Congress high command) happy, and send them whatever is needed to keep them happy. Their interest is only in it... keeping their party bosses happy so that their seats are safe.”
Contending that no state can function like this, he said, “They don’t care about the people and their feelings... Such governments, such leadership and personality will never strengthen democratic system.”
Taking a jibe at Siddaramaiah, Modi said, “Mysuru is the land that spreads the message of social unity, Mysuru is the land of energy and youthfulness, Mysuru is a land that creates an atmosphere of harmony... but the person who was born from here should not have gone on the wrong path.”
“He is associated with such people that whatever Mysuru taught him, he completely forgot on his way to Bengaluru, and is now taking entire Karnataka towards destruction.”
Modi also hit out at the Congress for spreading “lies repeatedly” and asked the people to question its record.
“Ask those who come here, make speeches. For 50 years one family got an opportunity to rule. What is the reason that four crore families are still living the life of the 18 century?” he said, attacking the Congress.
“They don’t even feel a bit of shame or sadness. They think by lying, by lying repeatedly, lying wherever they go, by lying loudly, by many people lying, not one or two days but for months on end, the people of this country will believe.
“You are talking from a wrong place; the country can never believe you, the country will never accept your lies. You will have to answer,” he said.
Modi said his government wants to take the country forward at a faster pace, but Congress governments, wherever they are, are working to stop the pace of the country. They work as “bumps”, he said.
Modi said he has come to assure the people and see to it that the BJP government that would be formed in Karnataka would work with a mission. It would work towards changing the destiny of Karnataka, he said.
“The way the government is functioning in Karnataka, and political developments are going on, you know that bundles and bundles of notes were seized and they are not ashamed of it.
“Diaries and what all were entered in it... Karnataka needs to get rid of it or not? Those who destroyed Karnataka,” Modi said, apparently referring to the raids by Income Tax department on some ministers recently.
Modi also announced a six-lane 117 km Bengaluru-Mysuru national highway project at a cost of Rs 6,400 crore and a world class new satellite railway station at Mysuru at an investment of Rs 800 crore.
He dedicated to the nation an electrified railway line between Mysuru and Bengaluru and flagged off the Palace Queen-Humsafar Express between Mysuru and Udaipur.
The train with only AC features connects five states in western india, according to South Western Railway.
The electrification of the railway line between Bengaluru and Mysuru, costing Rs 220 crore, is expected to benefit 25,000 passengers.
The BJP is pulling out all stops to unseat the Congress and return to power for a second time after its 2008-2013 rule that saw squabbling among its leaders and change of chief ministers thrice.
Image: In Mysuru, PM Narendra Modi announced a six-lane 117-km Bengaluru-Mysuru national highway and a world class new satellite railway station at Mysuru. Photograph: PTI Photo