BENGALURU/BANGARPET/BELAGAVI: Campaigning for the May 12 Karnataka assembly election on Wednesday turned crude with top leaders indulging in personal vitriol. With just a day remaining for the electioneering to end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went full blast in his attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi by terming his reported ambition to be Prime Minister “height of arrogance”. Hitting back, Rahul Gandhi called Modi a liar and said his comments were unbecoming of a PM.
Modi, who addressed four more rallies in Karnataka as he wound up his intensive campaign, said in Bangarpet, “Yesterday Rahul Gandhi said he is ready to be the next Prime Minister. Is this not a reflection that his arrogance has reached the seventh heaven?” Referring to the efforts being made by leaders of opposition parties to cobble up a united front to take on the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi called Gandhi immature for projecting himself as the prime ministerial candidate. “It is an insult to these veteran leaders of various parties,” Modi said.
“The party which ruled the country for 10 years is being voted out from state after state. But still their arrogance has not reduced,” he said. Rahul Gandhi, who held a road show in Bengaluru, countered Modi by ridiculing his suitability to be the PM. “Modi comes here frequently. He attacks Siddaramaiah and Mallikarjun Kharge. He makes fun of me. This is unbecoming of a PM,” Gandhi said. “Modi is a liar. He has insulted the people of Karnataka by telling lies,” he added.
At a rally in Belagavi, Modi referred to the seizure of voter ID cards in RR Nagar in Bengaluru, and asked the people to be vigilant against the “conspiracies” of the Congress.“Congress is employing such techniques that are dangerous to democracy. Bundles of fake voter ID cards were found. What was the purpose of printing fake ID cards? In one constituency (RR Nagar) with four lakh voters, one lakh fake ID cards were found. Congress may employ this trick in about 40-50 constituencies,” Modi said.
