Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MD)
Mangalore, Apr 1: "Ramanath Rai should stand in Hampanakatta and apologize in front of the media and the people for levelling false allegations against BJP candidate from Dakshina Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel," said BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar.
He was referring to the 'challenge' posed by district incharge minister Ramanath Rai that if BJP produces any proof of Nalin Kumar Kateel speaking in the parliament, he would resign. The BJP in response convened a press meet and showed video evidence of Nalin Kumar raising questions in the parliament during his tenure as MP.
Addressing a press meet at the BJP office here, Ananth Kumar said, "Nalin Kumar Kateel has raised his voice in the Lok Sabha for the people of Dakshina Kannada."
Showering praises on BJP candidate, he said, "Nalin Kumar is the right candidate for Lok Sabha election. Ramanath Rai should fix a date to retire so that we can give him a grand farewell."
Stating that the Congress leaders were scared of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he said, "Modi wave is there in every corner of India. Our chief minister Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders are doing 'Modi Japa' (chanting Modi's name) saying that Modi wave does not exist. They are scared of Modi wave. Almost one year is up after Congress came to power in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah's one year honeymoon period is over and he should start doing some good work for the benefit of the people."
He further added, "On September 13, 2013 we announced Narendra Modi as the PM candidate and so far, we have had 296 rallies across India. We have received huge response from all over the country. Rahul Gandhi is a total failure. He is not a leader. For Rahul Gandhi's rallies there have been hardly any crowds at all as no one wants to hear him. Congress is lacking in leadership," he said.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Ananth Kumar said that the PM has been a 'night watchman' for Congress for the last 10 years and Congress is facing a huge crisis in selecting the right candidate for the Prime Minister's post.
"In 1977 the ruling Congress lost control of India for the first time, and this time too it will lose. Union minister of finance P Chidambaram, defence minister A K Antony and many others are not ready to face the elections. They are saying that they will serve in the Congress party. All the Congress leaders are busy accusing Modi. Congress is good only for accusing others," he lashed out.
He also requested everyone to give full support to Narendra Modi and blamed Congress for crises in three major sectors - economy, security and governance.
Regarding the Aadhaar card issue, he said that the Congress party had spent a lot of money on this project without the approval of the Parliament.
When a reporter asked Ananth Kumar to speak about his own work, he said, "I have done a lot of good work in the last 18 years. Everybody knows the works I have done, which include the Bangalore International Airport, the Metro project and many more works."
When asked if Rama Sene chief and now BJP's adversary Pramod Muthalik was disrupting the Modi wave, he declined to comment.
When a reporter asked if Ramanath Rai would be welcomed if he were to quit Congress and join BJP, Ananth Kumar said, "Let him first apologize publicly at Hampankatta."
Pratap Simha Nayak, Yogish Bhat, Jayaram Shetty, Monappa Bhandary and others were present.
Police, election officials visit
Prior to the press meet, BJP invited the journalists for lunch and after the press meet, police visited the spot along with the election officials and took photos and videos of the utensils which were left behind in the BJP office.