‘This election is to make Karnataka the No. 1 state in the country’, says Modi in Bidar

BIDAR: Taking on Congress in poll- bound Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the grand old party lacks capability to understand poverty and is “full of negativity”, while also accusing it of doing politics on development.

“This election is to make Karnataka the number one state in the country. This election is to decide the role of Karnataka in the making of a developed India. India will be developed when every corner of Karnataka will be developed,” he said addressing the public meeting programme in Bidar

The Prime Minister accused Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), which are contesting the Karnataka Assembly elections separately, of harbouring “hatred” for farmers and said that they created obstructions in the implementation of the central scheme for farmers.

Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.

“Congress will never understand the struggle and pain of the poor. Congress slowed the pace of houses here. They have not seen poverty. Congress is the party which does politics in the name of development and is full of negativity. Congress had only made fake promises to the farmers and people of Karnataka,” PM Modi said while addressing an election rally here.

“When we started this scheme (Kisan Samman Nidhi), there was a Congress-JDS government here. But they created obstructions in sending the list of the beneficiary farmers. Can you imagine how much hatred Congress-JDS have for the farmers? The state government did not have to spend any money. We were sending money from Delhi. The problem they had was that the money was going directly into the bank accounts of the farmers,” he added.

The Prime Minister also stated that Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where Congress is in power and had promised loan waivers for farmers but the still the farmers are waiting for the fulfilment of the promises.

“The Centre gave Rs 6,000 and the BJP government in the state added Rs 4,000 extra which benefitted nearly 7 lakh farmers. Congress government used to deceive farmers with their false promises of loan waiver before every election. They promised in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, but the farmers there have not received anything in their accounts. They never benefitted by loan waivers. This is the true face of Congress,” he said.

PM Modi further noted that the upcoming Karnataka polls will decide the role of the state in India’s journey to becoming a developed nation.

“Foreign investment has increased thrice in the state under the BJP regime compared to the Congress regime. The meaning of double-engine government is a double benefit, double speed. When there was no double-engine government in Karnataka, it used to take years to complete small projects,” he added.

The Prime Minister will hold a roadshow later in the day in Bengaluru. (ANI)