Karnataka elections is not about you: Rahul hits out at PM

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday (May 1) took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he should understand that the upcoming Karnataka elections was not about him. Rahul was reacting to Modi’s allegation that he has been verbally “abused 91 times’ by the Congress.

Rahul asked the PM to speak about the BJP government’s work and future programmes for Karnataka, instead of talking about himself.

While addressing a public meeting in Turuvekere, Tumakuru district, Rahul said that Modi has come to campaign in Karnataka for elections, but he does not speak about Karnataka.

“You speak about yourself. You have to say what you did in Karnataka for the past three years. You also have to speak in your speeches about what you will be doing in the next five years, what will do for youth, education, health and to fight corruption,” the former AICC president said.

Further, Rahul added, “This election is not about you, it is about Karnataka’s people and its future. You say Congress abused you 91 times, but you never speak about what you did for Karnataka. In your next speech, you speak about what you did and what you will do in the next five years.”

Modi on Saturday targeted the Congress over its party president M Mallikarjun Kharge’s ‘venomous snake’ barb at him and said till now the party and its leaders had hurled various types of abuses at him 91 times.

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Rahul also pointed out that when he comes to Karnataka and gives speeches he speaks about his party leaders like Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar and about their work. “We take the names of all our leaders. You (Modi) come here and don’t even take the name of your Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) and (B S) Yediyurappa (former CM). Your speeches are all about Narendra Modi,” he pointed out.

“Try taking names of Bommai and Yediyurappa too one or two times, they will feel happy,” he suggested.

Stating that this election was about Karnataka’s people, youth and mothers and sisters, Rahul said, “This election is not about one person, not about Narendra Modi. Prime Minister has to understand this.”

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and state Congress leaders were present at the public meeting.

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In his speech, Rahul also highlighted Congress’s poll guarantees’ – 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), ₹2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), ₹3,000 every month for graduate youth and ₹1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25 years) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Sakhi).