Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, May 4: Addressing election rallies in Kalaburagi, Ballari and Bengaluru on Thursday May 3, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said that Congress party had deceived the dalits by promising during 2013 election to make Mallikarjun Kharge the chief minister of Karnataka.
Apparently the comment is being analyzed by political pundits as an attempt to wean away the dalit community votes, following up with his recent remark about insulting Deve Gowda in an apparent effort to earn sympathy of Vakkaliga community. He said that in contrast, BJP has kept its promise by making the son of a dalit woman, Ram Nath Kovind and A P J Abdul Kalam from Muslim community the Presidents of India. He also tried to show Congress in poor light by mentioning that because of BJP policies, he himself, who was selling tea and belonged to backward community, could rise to become Prime Minister.
"Congress never learnt to give respect to our defence forces. The then Prime Minister, Jawarhalal Nehru and defence minister, Krishna Menon, had insulted Kannadigas, General Thimmaiah and Field Marshall Kariappa, who had carried out surgical strikes. Recently our soldiers conducted surgical strikes and Congressmen, instead of reposing faith in our army, have been seeking proof for the same. Do they expect the soldiers to carry cameras instead of guns?" he wanted to know. He also accused Congress government of making the state to face a huge debt burden.
In response, Siddaramaiah quipped that there is no question of insulting proud son of Karnataka, Field Marshall K M Kariappa. Speaking at Humnabad, Kharge observed that in his career spanning so many decades, no one has levelled allegations against him. He advised Modi to exercise control over his tongue and accused him of speaking against him in his own constituency. "I know how to fight against a person who wears suit costing ten lac rupees. Modi, who was not willing to give the post of the leader of the opposition to me in Lok Sabha, is shedding crocodile tears by acting like sympathizing with me," he criticized.