Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the previous BJP government of looting the state of Rs 1 lakh crore.
At a public meeting at Sirsi town, he appealed to the public to teach the saffron party a lesson in the elections. “The previous BJP government in Karnataka broke all corruption records. The amount that was looted during the BJP’s regime would have been more than sufficient to irrigate every acre in the state,” he said. He also accused the BJP of bringing a bad name to the state. “Karnataka and Bangalore were known worldwide for strides in IT and BT. The Congress had painstakingly laid a strong foundation for the state’s development but the BJP spoiled everything,” he said.
He said the UPA government has raised the living standard over 15 crore people living below poverty line. “Our next target is to push over 70 crore people, including dhobis and taxi drivers, into the middle class,” he said.
Rahul promised that if Congress comes to power, it would introduce bills like Right to Health Service, Right to Employment and reservation for women in politics.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed apprehensions over the security of vulnerable sections of society, including minorities, women and dalits if Narendra Modi becomes prime minister. He said the elections will be a battle between secular and communal forces. He said Modi has silenced senior BJP leaders like L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Yeshwanth Sinha because of his hardcore RSS credentials.
Siddaramaiah also used the opportunity to accuse the Sangh Parivar of ‘not believing in the concept of a pluralistic society’ and said the country’s secular character will be destroyed if Modi comes to power.
KPCC president G Parameshwara said if Congress comes to power, Rahul would be the PM.