ANNIGERI/LAKSHMESHWAR/HANAGAL: To capture a majority of seats in the undivided Dharwad district that will help cross the magic mark in the May 10 Assembly elections, BJP’s master strategist and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday went on a whirlwind tour of the district, addressing rallies at Annigeri (Dharwad), Laksmeshwar (Gadag) and Akki Alur (Haveri) towns.
At all the rallies, he attacked Congress and its chief Mallikarjun Kharge for his barb, comparing PM Narendra Modi to a “venomous snake”.
Shah told the people that they are not voting to elect a CM or ministers, but for the future of the state and to strengthen the hands of Modi, who has been taking bold decisions like banning the PFI to improve internal security. But Congress had given PFI activists a free run, he alleged.
Stating that Kharge’s remark has hurt people, Shah said, “Congress is facing a dearth of issues. Modi, who is adored worldwide and is trusted by the people of India, is repeatedly attacked by Congress with derogatory remarks. Sometimes he is called a poisonous snake, and sometimes Maut Ka Saudagar and Neechli Jaat. But Karnataka people will give a befitting reply to Congress in the elections. The more they scorn Modiji, the more lotus will bloom.”
rying to strike a chord with the Lingayat community which is in majority in the region, he recalled how Congress had insulted Lingayat leaders. Now, Rahul Gandhi and other Lingayat leaders in Congress are after Lingayat votes forgetting what ill they did to them, he charged.
Campaigning for minister Shanakr Patil Munenakoppa at Annigeri in Navalgund segment, he strongly defended the Bommai government’s decision to scrap the Muslim quota and said the party will never allow reservation on the basis of religion.
“As leaders of Congress and other parties are promising to bring back the Muslim quota, the people want to know from whom they would snatch the reservation to give to Muslims. People are tired of appeasement politics and have distanced themselves from such parties,” he said.
Shan said in Akki Alur of Hangal constituency that JDS is the B-team of Congress and voting for the regional party means voting for Congress. “After getting elected, JDS MLAs will sit on the lap of Congress,” he mocked. Ridiculing the guarantees being promised by Congress, he said, “Congress is the guarantee for lying, guarantee for corruption and guarantee for casteism. But BJP gives the guarantee that Congress will not come to power.”
Completed By Mallikarjun Hiremath, Raghottam Koppar & Kiran Balannanavar