BENGALURU: On a day when
Rahul Gandhi focused on "mass connect" and visited small towns and villages during his 160km yatra, BJP leaders on Sunday held a 'Slum Durbhagya' programme to highlight the lack of amenities under the ruling
Congress government in
Karnataka.
In Bengaluru, after his night stay in the home of an autorickshaw driver, BJP state president and the party's CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa found himself in a loo controversy. The host had supposedly installed a western toilet in the home where he stayed for less than 12 hours. It is another matter that there was no water connection to the flush. He said Yeddyurappa was served rice and sambar with papad and pickle for dinner on Saturday night and two idlis and chutney, and a cup of coffee for breakfast on Sunday.
In Hubballi, opposition leader in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar spent the night in a rather "comfortable" slum within the city. Asked why he stayed in a slum that appeared to be "developed", he said, "There is no developed or underdeveloped slum. A slum is a slum. We helped people build houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, so you can find many concrete houses."
In his 160km tour from Kukanur to Raichur, Rahul made four public speeches and held roadshows creating the much-needed tempo for the party ahead of elections. People waved at Rahul, cheered him, shouted pro-Congress, pro-Rahul slogans and garlanded him. He spoke of issues like unemployment, agrarian crisis, failure of Modi government in fulfilling its promises, and the "good performance" of the Siddaramaiah-led government.
In another rally, Rahul urged Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to waive loans of farmers than working only for the rich, businessmen and industrialists.
