Bengaluru: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday continued his attack on the Union government, stating that the poor was forced to clean the country, queue up outside banks in the wake of demonetization and watch businessmen like Nirav Modi flee the country.
He said the centre’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan involved getting the poor to take up brooms and clean the country, and demonetization meant standing outside banks to deposit money only to watch the likes of Nirav Modi flee with cash.
Targeting the goods and services tax (GST), he said GST meant small businesses bend in front of “Gabbar”, a reference to his Gabbar Singh Tax jibe.
Gandhi and the senior Congress leadership are travelling to several districts in central Karnataka including Shimoga, Davangere, Chitradurga and Tumakuru in the run-up to the state assembly elections to be held on 12 May.
The Congress president continued with his visits to religious institutions during the fifth leg of his campaign in Karnataka. On Wednesday, he met Sri Shivakumara Swamiji of the influential Siddaganga Matha (or mutt).
Heading into polls, political parties are making a beeline for various influential mutts to mobilize caste-based support in an attempt to increase seat share in the elections. The mutts or monasteries wield significant power and have considerable influence in several constituencies of the state. Followers are estimated to run into the tens of thousands.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah visited the head seer of the Siddaganga Matha last week to seek the latter’s blessings. Cornered over the recent state government decision to accord minority religion status to Lingayats, the BJP is trying to win back the support of the community, believed to be the single largest caste group in Karnataka, and estimated to account for about 15% of the total population.