War of words between rivals intensifies days before Saturday elections
07 May 2018
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With voting for the Karnataka state assembly elections to be held on Saturday, the vociferous slug of verbal warfare between the BJP and the Congress intensified over the weekend.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress for its woeful lack of respect for Dalit upliftment in India. He said that when Ram Nath Kovind, a Dalit, became the President of India, Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi did not even make a courtesy call.
“The arrogance of the Congress is at its peak,” said Modi while addressing a rally in Bagalkot. “A Dalit mother’s child became the President and they (Sonia and Rahul) should have made a courtesy call. It has been a year, yet Soniaji has not found to time for a courtesy call and her prince (Rahul) met him seven months after he became President, just to give him a memorandum.”
The Prime Minister said unlike the Congress, he was committed to the welfare and security of Dalits.
Referring to allegations by Rahul about the low rate of jobs being generated under his regime, Modi said there were just two mobile manufacturing companies during the UPA regime. But today, under the NDA government, there were 120 mobile manufacturers in India, generating more jobs.
He also urged residents of Karnataka to be vigilant of the divisive politics indulged in by the Congress. “We will not accept any division of Karnataka on the basis of caste,” he said.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress, however, strongly refuted Modi’s charges. “If BJP’s callous statements on Karnataka were even remotely true, why would we be the number one state in attracting investments for two years in a row?” he wondered.
Referring to Dalits, he said they did need “empty outreach strategies like having meals with them. What they need is empowerment with dignity and justice.”
