Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 7: A day before the campaigning is scheduled to close in Karnataka, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed off his high-voltage campaign on Sunday with a roadshow in Bengaluru covering central and eastern parts of the city.
Despite early morning rains, thousands of people gathered on either side of the streets, some of them armed with umbrellas, keen to catch a glimpse of the prime minister and greet him. The roadshow was delayed by nearly an hour, as the prime minister couldn’t fly to HAL Airport from Mekhri Circle as planned due to rains and he came by road.
The roadshow began in New Thippasandra and traversed through JB Nagar, Indiranagar, Ulsoor and reached Trinity Circle covering five state Assembly constituencies. Bengaluru Central MP P.C. Mohan accompanied the prime minister on the open jeep.
Modi who began his address in Shivmogga with the ‘Bajrangbali ki Jai’ slogan, took a swipe at the Congress, saying that they were “scared” and brought in veteran leader Sonia Gandhi for campaigning after its “lies did not work.”
Without taking the name of the former Congress chief, Modi said: “Now, the Congress is so afraid and scared that when their lies did not work, then those who are not taking part in campaigning are being brought here. The Congress has started dumping the responsibility of defeat on each other”.
Sonia Gandhi had addressed her first election rally in poll-bound Karnataka on Saturday in Hubballi. She had largely stayed away from campaigning since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls reportedly due to health reasons.
As BJP workers placed on either side of the vehicle showered him with flowers during the roadshow, Modi was seen throwing back flowers at the people who had gathered to greet him. He was seen waving at the crowds. Like Saturday, on Sunday too, many BJP workers had come dressed as Lord Hanuman and a group of over 200 priests organised by BJP chanted Hanuman Chalisa, reportedly as a mark of protest against Congress “promising to ban Bajrang Dal” if they came to power.
The roadshow was feared to cause traffic disruptions in the city, to an extent that NEET aspirants may find it difficult to reach examination centres. However, despite starting late by an hour, the roadshow concluded by 12 noon, even as the reporting time for NEET students at examination centres is by 12:30 pm and the latest they can go is at 1:30 pm.
Stepping up his attack on Congress, he further said the politics and development of the Congress party were only “on paper”, and they can “never develop” the state of Karnataka. Modi accused the party of neglecting the women of Karnataka in the past. “The education of girls and women’s empowerment were pushed back during the Congress rule. The girls used to drop out of school because Congress did not make separate toilets for girls. But BJP campaigned to remove the injustice done to girls and today more and more girls are going to school,” he said.
“Congress governments have not had any policy to protect farmers from drought, floods and other calamities. Under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs 1 lakh 30 thousand has been paid to the farmers as compensation, of which the farmers of Karnataka received 10,000 crores.” He also accused the Congress of keeping small farmers out of the banking system. “The BJP government introduced the Kisan credit card to include all farmers in the banking system, The Congress, in the name of loan waiver used to fill the treasure chests of its own people.”
As Modi was presented with a Hanuman idol and a saffron-coloured ‘Shivaji’ turban, the crowd erupted with chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Bajrang Bali Ki Jai.’ Modi expressed gratitude for the overwhelming response he received during his roadshow in Bengaluru and pledged to repay the people of Karnataka for their faith in him, saying, “I want to give you an original guarantee for your love and blessings, I will develop Karnataka and refund your love with interest.”
Meanwhile, the Congress In an attempt to project a united front three days before Karnataka votes to elect a new government, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar tweeted a short video clip of his “heart-to-heart” with his party colleague and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The two top Congress leaders, who are seen as the top contenders for the Chief Minister’s post if the grand old party manages to topple the BJP government, spoke candidly on various issues.
The five-minute video clip, in Kannada with English subtitles, starts with Siddaramaih talking about his health when asked about it — he has a viral infection in his left hand — and moves to Mr Shivakumar narrating his recent chopper accident scare after a bird hit. “We barely survived the helicopter incident,” DK Shivakumar tells Siddaramaiah, adding that a big bird, weighing about four to five kg, hit the chopper, smashing the glass.
The conversation then moves to the two discussing how the people’s response to Congress during the election campaign has been “beyond expectation”. They discuss people’s support for their party in the areas they campaigned in.
The two leaders, often seen as rivals competing for the Chief Minister’s post, then discuss that they would implement their “five guarantees” in the first cabinet meeting after coming to power, and the rest of the promises in the manifesto during the next five years.
The five guarantees of the Congress in the southern state are — Gruha Jyothi (which promises 200 units of free electricity to all), Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 monthly to every woman head of the family), Anna Bhagya (10 kg food grains of their choice — among rice, ragi, jowar, millet — to every person in a BPL family), Yuva Nidhi (Rs 3,000 every month for two years to unemployed graduates, and ₹ 1,500 every month as an allowance for unemployed diploma holders), and Shakti (free travel to all women throughout the state in regular KSRTC/BMTC buses).
The Congress party’s official Twitter account shared the video with a “we are stronger together” message, saying the conversation was a “sign of mutual respect and bonhomie” in Karnataka Congress.
