BENGALURU:Congress could pay a price for the bloopers galore in the Kannada version of Congress manifesto and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s apology for his inability to speak in Marathi, at a rally near Nippani in Belagavi district. Siddaramaiah’s ‘pride of Kannadigas’ plank, which had earlier become a cause of worry for his political rivals, is now turning into a “joke” with both BJP and JD(S) making a mockery of the Chief Minister.
Addressing a rally at Bedikyal village near Nippani last week, Siddaramaiah had apologised to the gathering — consisting mostly of Maratha voters — saying that he could not speak in Marathi. Even the banners and hoardings used at the venue were largely in Marathi, in an attempt to woo Marathi voters in this border area.Siddaramaiah’s apology triggered a flood of comments on social media.
The party’s state manifesto in Kannada had the cover page with the English word ‘manifesto’ instead of ‘pranalike’, the Kannada word for it. The region-wise manifesto too caused embarrassment as the Kannada spelling for the word ‘pranalike’ was erroneous.The English and Kannada versions were loaded with variations. For instance, the ‘Mangalya Bhagya’ scheme for economically weak women getting married, which finds a mention in English version, is missing in the Kannada version.
The translation of the party’s assurance to provide underground drainage system for all towns defies logic as it reads as “buried or absconding” drainage. Such errors are aplenty throughout the manifesto, providing ammunition to the opposition to tear into Siddaramaiah’s “Kannada pride” plank.
The fact that the Manifesto Committee was headed by party MP Veerappa Moily, a Saraswati Samman awardee litterateur, has turned the attacks even more sarcastic. BJP’s CM candidate B S Yeddyurappa and JD(S) supremo wanted Siddaramaiah to apologise for “insulting Kannada”.
BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, in her attack, said, “None of the Congress leaders have bothered to read the Kannada manifesto. Hundreds of mistakes reflect the lackadaisical way in which the Congress has drafted its manifesto. It is an insult to Kannadigas. The Siddaramaiah government even outsourced the manifesto work to a PR agency.”