BENGALURU:Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who resumed campaigning in Karnataka on Saturday, went on a whirlwind tour addressing four rallies in different parts of the state. He started the campaign with a scathing attack on the Congress and JD(S) and accused them of having a tacit understanding ahead of May 12 polls.
“The Congress has taken the support from JD(S) in Benglauru City Corporation and in other places like Tumakuru they have entered into a tacit alliance in the ensuing polls,” the PM said, while addressing a rally in Tumakuru. The Congress must stop fooling the people of the state, he said.“People should realise that the JD(S) cannot defeat the Congress in Karnataka. Most pre-poll surveys have indicated that it is in the third position. However, they were not even believing surveys conducted by neutral agencies,” he said.He ruled out the possibility of a hung assembly and said the BJP will get a clear majority and form the next government in the state.
In Tumakuru, Gadag and Shivamogga, Modi spoke about issues related to agriculture and irrigation sectors. In Tumakuru, he said the Centre has been working on the dream project of the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and in Karnataka, the linking of the Netravathi with the Hemavathi is among the five projects which were in the pipeline.The linking of Nethravathi and Hemavathi will help the farmers of eight districts in the state, he said and questioned progress made by the Congress government on the Upper Bhadra and Yettinahole irrigation projects.
“Regardless the progress, the money minted has now accumulated in the coffers of the ministers,” he alleged.Continuing his tirade against the Congress, Modi said the country would not have witnessed the series of farmer suicides if the party that ruled the country for over 50 years paid attention towards the agriculture sector.
For the first time, Modi spoke about the long-pending Mahadayi river water sharing dispute with Goa and Maharastra and assured the farmers of finding an amicable settlement for the issue. Here again, the PM accused the Congress and said the state government was trying to mislead innocent people in the region, but the BJP is committed to put an end to the dispute by holding talks with riparian states. That will be taken up on priority once the party comes to power in the state, he said.
After Karnataka election results, the Congress, he said, would be reduced to a regional party. Since 2014, it has been losing elections, from Maharashtra to the north east, and it will remain as just PPP (Punjab, Puduchery, Parivar) party, he said. Later, addressing a rally in Shivamogga, he said the BJP government will protect the interests of areca growers in the state.
In Tumakuru rally, the PM claimed that during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, former PM H D Deve Gowda had stated that he would commit suicide if BJP comes to power and Modi becomes the PM. “Deve Gowda said that he will commit suicide, but I had suggested to not to do so”, Modi said.
A senior JD (S) leader, however, clarified that the former PM had never made such a statement. Gowda had stated that he would resign from Lok Sabha membership if BJP comes to power and never spoke about committing suicide, the JD (S) leader said.
Modi tries to woo Muslim women in Mangaluru
Mangaluru: Aware of the large Muslim population in Dakshina Kannada district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to woo the women of the community by raising the issue of Triple Talaq even as he promised justice to the families of over two dozen murdered BJP workers. Addressing a massive and day’s last rally at Nehru Maidan here which the BJP calls as ‘Central Maidan’, Modi said his government which could not tolerate Muslim women being abandoned by their husbands by uttering Triple Talaq brought in a legislation to end their sufferings.
PM Modi goes all out to project BJP as pro-farmer
Tumakuru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday stressed that only the BJP can provide a farmer-friendly government and claimed it has been envisaging a roadmap for the implementation of irrigation projects, especially linking of rivers. “The Centre has been working out on the dream project of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and in Karnataka, the linking of the Nethravati river with the Hemavathy is among the five projects which were in the pipeline,” he informed. The linking of the rivers will help farmers of eight districts of central and south Karnataka, he added.
