Setting the tone for his second leg of Karnataka tour, AICC president Rahul Gandhi relied heavily on vachanas of 12th century reformer and Lingayat icon Basavanna to explain what the Congress government had been doing in the State as opposed to the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At both Athani in Belagavi district and Tikota in Vijayapura district on Saturday, Mr. Gandhi said the ideals preached by Basavanna had influenced the Congress. Drawing a contrast, he sought to know how Mr. Modi could take Basavanna’s name when he did not act as per his ideals. He sought answers from the crowd on whether Mr. Modi had kept his promises on black money, job creation and fighting corruption.
Quoting vachanas
He quoted the vachana “Ivanarava Ivanarava...” (don’t ask who he is, accept him as our own) to reiterate the Congress’ belief in communal harmony and equal society. “ Basavanna believed in the ‘Nudidante nade’ principle (practice as you preach). Highlighting the problems of farmers, I requested Mr. Modi for loan waiver. But, he did not even bother to respond. On my request, Mr. Siddaramaiah waived farm loans and released ₹8,000 crore, as he believed in ‘Nudidante nade’,” he said.
Quoting another vachana, “Kalabeda kolabeda” (don’t steal, don’t kill) that urges people to shun vices like uttering lies or flattering oneself, Mr. Gandhi said: “Mr. Modi habitually lies, his speeches divide communities and spreads hatred. His cadre kills Dalits, minorities and other helpless communities. But, Mr. Modi is silent on them. He keeps boasting about himself and claims credit for the work of others. He insults his political adversaries.”
He asked people to visit Karnataka for ‘Kaam ki baat’ and not ‘Mann ki baat’. Mentioning that the Congress had kept is promise unlike the BJP, he sought votes for development, harmony and brotherhood. Earlier, KPCC president G. Parameshwara, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge and Mr. Siddaramaiah spoke.
‘Give more seats to women’
Mr. Gandhi has promised passage to the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, if voted to power in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing the women’s convention of the party at Tikota village in Vijayapura district, he said his party was committed to the empowerment of women and asked Mr. Siddaramaiah and Dr. Parameshwara, who were on stage, to offer more seats to women in the Assembly elections.
“I want to see more women becoming MLAs and also getting adequate representation in the State Cabinet,” he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah promised to give “as many seats as possible” to women. He, however, said that in the absence of reservation for women, it might not be possible to provide 33% seats to women. “But, we will try our best to give them more seats in the coming elections,” he said.
Terming BJP as “anti-women”, Mr. Siddaramaiah said senior counsel Rama Jois had opposed the decision of giving 33% reservation to women in local bodies. None of the BJP leaders, including B.S. Yeddyurappa, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, had objected to this, he said.
