Ahead of the next phase of polling in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched an attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Belagavi, claiming that the latter had “insulted” India’s rajas and maharajas by calling them “land-grabbing tyrants”, but had remained silent on “atrocities committed by nawabs, nizams, sultans and badshahs for the sake of appeasement politics”.
The PM claimed that “shehzada” of Congress had insulted great personalities like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Rani Chinamma. “Does the shehzada not know the contribution of the Mysuru royal family, whom we all are proud of? The statements made by the shehzada of Congress have been made very thoughtfully to appease their vote bank… The shehzada does not say a word about the atrocities committed by nawabs, nizams, sultans and badshahs,” the PM said.
With 14 constituencies in Karnataka set to go to the polls on May 7, the PM held four back-to-back rallies in north Karnataka. Speaking at a rally in Uttar Kannada, the PM alleged that Congress has bowed to the pressure of appeasement politics instead of giving justice to the family of Neha Hiremath, the young student murdered in her college in Hubli two weeks ago. “What happened with our daughter in a college campus in Hubli shook the entire nation. They don’t value the lives of our daughters like Neha. All they care about is their vote bank. Ever since the Congress government came to Karnataka, the situation of law and order in the entire state has deteriorated significantly,” the PM said.
He reiterated his allegation that Congress was planning to impose a 55% tax on people’s property.
On Supreme Court’s EVM verdict, the PM said: “Congress lied about HAL. Congress opposed the Made-in-India Covid vaccine. It attempted to defame India’s democracy worldwide under the pretext of EVM and then the Supreme Court gave them a resounding slap,” he added.
In Ballari, Modi said: “When I took steps for toy exports, Congress made fun of me, saying a PM was speaking of toys. Today, we have become a global market,” he said.
