Karnataka polls: Modi gets fact on Army wrong; Yogi rally today; updates

Days before the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, Prime Minister Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi are repeatedly crossing swords. Catch the Karnataka election campaign updates here

BS Web Team  |  New Delhi 

Narendra Modi in Karnataka
Karnataka Assembly election 2018: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public rally in Bengaluru

Karnataka Assembly election 2018 has seen vigorous campaigning by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi crossing swords over a plethora of issues, including corruption. While Modi said the Karnataka government was a "gold medalist" in corruption and that Congress leaders were "drunk on power", Gandhi hit right back accusing the BJP of corruption in Rafale fighter jet deal and protecting fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. The prime minister will on Friday interact with the office-bearers and workers of the BJP's Karnataka women's wing through the NaMo App.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in the poll-bound state, where he took a swipe at the Siddaramaiah government, accusing it of carrying out divisive and corrupt politics. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hit back on Twitter, flaying Adityanath for being in his state for electioneering when 64 people had lost their lives due to a dust storm in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, after the BJP complained to the Election Commission (EC) over what it alleged was the Congress' attempt at playing the "communal card" in the poll-bound state to woo Muslim voters, the Congress on Thursday complained to the EC against the BJP's Karnataka unit for "getting published false and misleading advertisements" in newspapers to malign the public image of Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah.

Voting in the Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 12, 2018, in all 224 constituencies of the state Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes and announcement of results will take place on May 15, 2018.

Here are the top developments in the BJP and Congress' Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign:

1) Modi holding interaction with BJP's Karnataka women's wing today: Prime Minister Modi on Friday will interact with the office-bearers and workers of the BJP's Karnataka women's wing through the NaMo App. Modi will talk about the initiatives taken by his government for woman empowerment. During the interaction, Modi will also answer questions of the workers of the party's women wing. "Narendra Modi will directly interact with the office bearers and karyakartas of Karnataka's BJP Mahila Morcha through Namo App via video bridge, at 9 am," the BJP said in a statement.

2) Modi to hold 15 more rallies in Karnataka: Modi is on a rally blitzkrieg in Karnataka, as he looks to oust the Congress from power in the high-stakes poll. In total, the Prime Minister was scheduled to address 21 rallies in Karnataka. Of these, six rallies, including Thursday's three in Kalaburagi, Ballari, and Bengaluru, have already been held. This still leaves Modi with 15 more rallies to go in the state.

Read our detailed copy on how Modi crossed swords with Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah on May 3: Karnataka polls: Modi chides Cong; Siddaramaiah reminds him of 'Reddy gang'

3) Second day of Rahul Gandhi's 8th Karnataka visit of the year today: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday commenced his eighth visit to Karnataka this year. During the first day of his two-day visit on Thursday, Gandhi was in the Bidar district, where he held corner meetings in Aurad, Bhalki, and Humnabad. Gandhi will again visit the state from May 7 to May 10.

4) Adityanath holding rallies in Haliyala, Muddebihal, Mudhol, and Teradala today: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is also campaigning in Karnataka, starting from May 3 to May 5 with 11 public meetings scheduled, BJP sources said. On Friday, he will address meetings at Haliyala, Muddebihal, Mudhol, and Teradala, the sources said. On May 5, he will address election rallies at Sedan and Balki. He will also visit Balehonnur Math. On Thursday, he addressed public meetings at Sirsi, Sagar, Balehonnur, Belur, and Honnalli.

Adityanath on Thursday asked the people of Karnataka to reject what he called the "divisive" politics and "jihadi mindset" of the Congress. At a rally at Sirsi, he accused Siddaramaiah of playing the "most corrupt innings" that divides the society. "I have come here to call upon you to outrightly reject the divisive politics of the Congress, the jihadi mindset of the Congress, its policies of supporting terrorism and corruption," Adityanath said.

Targeting Siddaramaiah, he claimed that "jihadis" killing 23 BJP workers in the state in the past five years was "proof" of the Congress party's alleged divisive politics. "Today, the Congress government in Karnataka and its chief minister, who is playing the most corrupt innings, are making the worst effort to divide the society. Their divisive politics supports terrorism," he said.

Seeking to draw a comparison between UP and Karnataka, Adityanath said no jihadi element can raise his ugly head in his state. "This government does not seem to be standing in favour of farmers, traders, citizens and BJP workers and does not seem to be doing justice to them. The government is encouraging anarchy," the UP chief minister said.

He also took a dig at Siddaramaiah over farmers' suicides and said their interests had been ignored due to the "indifferent" attitude of his government. "Today, the Siddaramaiah government is using Karnataka as its automated teller machine. Thus, I have come here to tell you that Congress-free Karnataka is the need of the hour," Adityanath said.

6) Siddaramaiah highlights Modi gaffe on General K S Thimayya: Hitting back at Modi, Siddaramaiah retweeted former AAP leader Yogendra Yadav's tweet pointing to an alleged gaffe by Modi during his speech at Kalaburagi on Thursday. While addressing poll rallies in Karnataka, Modi said the Congress is a party that has disrespected the armed forces. "Forgetting the national heroes, patriots and history is the nature of a family in the Congress. (Jawaharlal) Nehru and V K Krishna Menon insulted General (KS) Thimayya, who had to resign. They neglected General (K M) Cariappa," Modi told an election rally, as he sought to connect with the voters of the home state of the two legends of the Army.

Modi said, "India defeated Pakistan in 1948 under the leadership of Field Marshal Thimayya. But after the valour, General Thimayya who saved Kashmir was repeatedly insulted by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then defence minister V K Krishna Menon and because of which General Thimayya had to resign from his post. I want the new generation of Karnataka to know about Congress party's attitude towards the chief of army, who was the son of Karnataka."

Yadav tweeted, "No sir, Krishna Menon was Defence Minister from April 1957 to October 1962. Thimayya was Army Chief from May 1957 to May 1961. Sir can't the PMO afford a fact-checker? It's so embarrassing!"

Siddaramaiah tweeted that Karnataka holds its revered son Field Marshal K M Cariappa in high esteem.

7) Siddaramaiah has six questions for Modi: The Prime Minister should list five things he has done for Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said and posed a few questions.

Siddaramaiah's six questions pertained to when the Centre would give approval to the Kannada flag, when it would amend the rules for banking recruitment exams making knowledge of Kannada compulsory for banking jobs in Karnataka, when Modi would intervene in Mahadayi river row between Karnataka and Goa, when would the Centre "do justice to Karnataka" and revise its State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) allocation, when would it stop the divestment of "Bengaluru's jewel" Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), and when would it rectify "the injustice done to Bengaluru" by "taking away Rafale from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited".

With agency inputs
First Published: Fri, May 04 2018. 08:58 IST