On a campaign blitzkrieg in poll-bound Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked the Congress on multiple fronts, deriding “ parivar” (family) politics, accusing the party of corruption and blaming it for the protracted Mahadayi river water dispute.
Speaking at Gadag in north Karnataka at one of his four rallies through the day, Mr. Modi predicted the decimation of the Congress after the Karnataka results, restricting its rule to only two States.
“After May 15 [when poll results will be declared], Indian National Congress will be reduced to PPP Congress,” Mr. Modi said, adding that PPP stood for “Punjab, Puducherry and Parivar.” He alleged that the Karnataka Congress had become a “corruption tank ...with a pipeline connected to Delhi.”
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On Mahadayi issue
Attempting to touch a chord with the farmers of Gadag, the heartland of the Mahadayi agitation, the Prime Minister broke his long silence on the protracted water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Goa.
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Mr. Modi, who has rebuffed several appeals by the Karnataka government for a meeting of the heads of the riparian States, chose to blame the Congress. He said the party was “instigating” the people of Karnataka over the issue.
Amicable solution
Stating that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had said during the Goa Assembly elections in 2007 that the party was “committed” to not allowing Karnataka its share of water and was now talking differently, Mr. Modi promised to find an amicable solution.
In Shivamogga, he referred to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s Hublot watch controversy. The expensive watch, “gifted” to the Chief Minister, had kicked up a row with accusations that it was given in exchange for a business favour.