Taking on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on his home turf in Mysuru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called upon the public to replace the “commission-driven Congress government” in the State with a “mission-driven BJP government”.
Addressing a BJP workers’ rally at Maharaja’s College grounds, Mr. Modi said the Siddaramaiah government was knee deep in corruption, with scams and irregularities “emerging every day”.
Recalling the charge he had made during a rally in Bengaluru earlier this month that the Congress government demands 10% commission for every work, Mr. Modi said he has since received many calls from people suggesting the figure was higher.
Though he did not name Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Modi said the responsibility of punishing the corrupt rested on the people of Mysuru. “Those who have ruined Karnataka are from Mysuru and have become a blot on its people. People from Mysuru should never have taken the wrong path. Whatever is learnt from Mysuru has been forgotten while going to Bengaluru... and [this] is now leading the entire State to ruin,” he said.
Mr. Modi also accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of dividing society and misguiding people ahead of the Assembly polls.
The PM also said the NDA government has drawn up a project to ensure there are no homeless families in the country by 2022, which marks 75 years of Indian independence. He said his government was keen to fast-track the country’s progress, but the Congress governments in a few States were acting like “speed bumps” on a highway.
CM’s tweet
In response to Mr. Modi’s speech, the Chief Minister tweeted: “PM @narendramodi makes disparaging comments about certain Mysurians. Mysuru has produced Tigers who fought the British, built a modern state, brought land reforms. Someone from Mysuru would never have allowed a fugitive runaway with 11,500 cr. under his Chowkidari.”
