MANGALURU: Former chief minister M Veerappa Moily on Thursday likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rome. He said Modi is busy campaigning in Karnataka when Manipur state is burning, like Nero was playing the fiddle when Rome was burning.
Addressing a press meet, Moily said no PM in the history of India had spent so much time campaigning for state assembly election which shows how worried the PM is about the election result.
“If he was sure of a good result (for his party), he would have not campaigned so aggressively. Manipur is burning and boxer Mary Kom has sought help to control it. The situation in the country is the same as it was in Rome under Nero,” he said.
Referring to a recent survey by the Pew Research Report which says that more than 50 per cent of Indians prefer military rule and many high net worth citizens want to leave the country, Moily said that it indicates that there is no stability in the country and people can't live in peace here.
“This is happening under Modi-Shah rule,” he said.
Moily criticised Modi's double-engine government rhetoric stating that its one engine (of Karnataka) doesn't work and hence needs to be scrapped.
The former union minister also criticised BJP for going to polls by projecting former CM BS Yediyurappa as its leader. “When he was the CM, his government was said to be the most corrupt one in the country. Now, they are going to the polls with his face. The CM is totally sidelined,” he alleged. He alleged that BJP changed many candidates in coastal Karnataka as they were corrupt.
He came down heavily on Home Minister Amit Shah for his reported statement that there will be riots in the state if Congress wins the polls. “Its anti-constitutinal. Then why do you need an election,” he asked.