Karnataka: PM Modi accuses Congress of lying to win elections

New Delhi: Rejecting opinion polls predicting a hung Assembly in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday claimed that the poll going southern state, currently under Congress’s rule, has decided to go in for a “parivartan (change).” Asking BJP leaders and cadre not to bother will such “conspiracies (poll predictions)” or the “lies” spread by the Congress and its well wishers, Mr Modi asked the saffron party cadre to go with “danke ki chot (full confidence)” to the people with the NDA government’s development card as development is “measurable” which is the reason why BJP’s opponents refrain from highlighting development issues.

He said instead, political parties rake up “caste, religion, communal and community” related issues. In a message to the people of Karnataka, Mr Modi said only a government with an absolute majority can change the state’s fortune. Mr Modi is expected to launch his campaign trail in the state from May 1 and will address nearly 16 rallies across the state.

Interacting with the BJP leaders in the poll going state thorugh video conferencing, Mr Modi accused the state’s ruling Congress of  playing caste politics during elections. He initiated his interaction in Kannada and said he could not learn the language despite wanting to.

Without naming the Lingayat community, the Prime Minister said that the Congress has a habit of picking one caste in every poll and offering them a “lollipop” so that they remain busy with it. He said this bad practice in the Indian politics has been linked to the Congress and untill it is removed from the main political scenario of the country, the Indian politics cannot be “purified.”

“Congress knows it is not winning in Karnataka, which is why it is constantly spreading lies and playing divisive politics. Sadly for them, the people of Karnataka know the negative politics of Congress very well and will reject the party,” Mr Modi later tweeted.

The Siddaramaiah government recently recommended religious minority status for the Lingayat and its sub-group Veershaiva Lingayat community, which is seen as an attempt to divide the Lingayats, one of the core votebanks of the BJP in the state.

“BJP has a three-pronged agenda for Karnataka — development, fast-paced development and an all-round development,” asserted Mr Modi. He also said that the BJP has something which no other political party has which is “sangathan ki shakti (organisational strength)” and its strategies are decided by the feedback of its booth level cadre.

Asking BJP cadre to be wary of the “lies” spread by the Congress and its well wishers, for which they even hire foreign agencies, Mr Modi asked saffron party cadre to go to the people with development facts as the BJP believed in the mantras of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.’