From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bagalkot, May 3: Continuing his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being the “master of lies” (sullugala saradara) and for performing drama by wearing black blankets (kari kambli) to pose as a Kuruba while his BJP has not given a single ticket to the Kuruba community in the Lok Sabha polls, ridiculed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Addressing an election campaign meeting in Bagalkot, he lashed out Modi for writing off over Rs 16 lakh crore loans of big industrialists and capitalists while refusing farm loan waivers to help distressed farming community.
Campaigning for the Congress candidate Samyukta Patil in Bagalkot, Siddaramaiah said it was the Congress government will declared Basavanna as the State’s “cultural icon” and established the Basavanabagewadi Development Authority in the birth place of Basavanna.
“I took the oath in 2013 on the day of Basava Jayanti and strongly adhere to the teachings and ideology of Basavanna and all other Lingayat Sharanas. It was our government which made it mandatory for all government offices to display the picture of Basavanna,” he said.
The Congress party holds and respects Basavanna as “Vishwaguru” and not some other leader, who always acts, the Chief Minister said without mentioning the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is projected by the BJP as Vishwaguru.
Siddaramaiah attacked Modi for uttering lies and falsehood that the Congress party did not respect Shivaji Maharaj and Kittur Rani Chennamma and pointed out that it was the Congress government which had ordered that Kittur Chennamma Jayanti should be observed.
“Modi wears black blankets to pose as a Kuruba to fool the community and not because of his love for the Kuruba community,” Siddaramaiah said the people know all the drama and change of costumes by Modi.
Siddaramaiah said the BJP has not given a ticket to a single Kuruba, a Christian or a Muslim in any of the 28 lok sabha seats as Modi and BJP have no faith in social justice.
He said Modi has promised to double the income of farmers and has done nothing to uplift the conditions of farmers during the last 10 years. The farmers have been denied fair prices for the agricultural produce by not implementing the Swaminathan panel report.
“Modi has done nothing for farmers and refused to waive farm loans during the last 10 years despite the agrarian crisis in the country. While UPA Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written off Rs 76,000 crore farm loans, Modi did nothing. In my tenure as chief minister, the government has written off Rs 8,165 crore farm loans to benefit 27 lakh farmers,” he said accusing Modi of writing off loans of Rs 16 lakh crore from industrialists and capitalist cronies.
The chief minister said the Congress government’s guarantees have benefited the people and helped the poor and women. The guarantees will be continued even after elections disproving BJP’s false claims about their stoppage.
“It is the Congress party which believes in and is committed to social justice while BJP has always been against reservation, starting with its agitation against the implementation of the Mandal commission report. BJP has been resorting to false claims that Congress party will snatch reservation of backward classes to please the Muslims,” he said pointing out that Congress wants all communities, especially downtrodden to come up.
Siddaramaiah accused the Modi regime of not filling up 30 lakh vacancies in the Centre because it would have provided jobs to 50% of dalits and backward classes.