Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat (Developed India) campaign will fail as Vajpayee’s India Shining did in 2004.
Addressing an election campaign meeting at Tarikere of Chikkamagaluru district on Monday, April 22, Mr. Siddaramaiah said Modi came to power by making many promises. None of them have been fulfilled in the last 10 years. He failed to create two crore jobs a year, neither did he bring the black money stashed in foreign banks, nor could he double the farmers’ income, he said.
Drawing a comparison between the UPA and Modi’s rule, the CM said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh waived farmers’ loans to the tune of ₹76,000 crore. However, Modi waived the dues of corporate companies. “Modi has given empty chombu (container) to the poor and middle class of the country. However, the corporate companies got Akshaya Patre,” he said. He also criticised former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, stating that he (Deve Gowda) was competing with Modi in telling lies.
Further, he stated that the Congress, in its manifesto, promised guarantees to the people of the country. If the party came to power at the Centre, women would get ₹1 lakh a year, besides ₹24,000 being given by the State government. “You should decide what you want—either the empty ‘chombu’ of the BJP or the guarantee of the Congress,” he said.
He appealed to voters to elect Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress.
