BELAGAVI/KALABURAGI: Criticising the BJP’s manifesto on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar claimed that the promises made by the ruling party never came to fruition, as many of its previous promises -- such as two crore jobs for the unemployed, bringing back black money, and doubling farmers’ income -- remained unfulfilled.
Speaking to the media here in Belagavi, Shivakumar said, “The Centre had implemented its three farm bills against the interests of farmers. When its agenda backfired, the bills were withdrawn. When the previous promises are not fulfilled, how will the BJP fulfill any new promises?”
“Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had claimed to have spent Rs 20 lakh crore during the pandemic to save people. She must reveal the details of expenditure through advertisements in the newspapers. The BJP government even had refused to hand over the body of late Union minister Suresh Angadi, who had died by Covid-19.
Jagadish Shettar and other BJP MPs did not even request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return the body to his hometown, but DK Suresh had stood till the last rites in Delhi,” he said, adding that the BJP, which is afraid of losing power at the Centre, has fielded new faces in 14 constituencies in Karnataka.
Reacting to JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy’s recent controversial statement, he said, “Kumaraswamy is now an NDA partner. But he will not win in Mandya. We have brought guarantees to empower women. But it is not right to say that women are on the wrong path, after getting Rs 2,000 as part of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. It is a matter of-self respect for women. Women organisations in every taluk should condemn Kumaraswamy’s statement.”
‘Album of picnic pics’
Meanwhile, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge called BJP’s manifesto “a book of announcements and an album of picnic pictures of PM Narendra Modi”.
Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi, Priyank said the BJP’s manifesto started from ‘Achhe Din’ in 2014 to ‘Modi ki Guarantee’ in 2024. “Let the PM talk about the guarantees given in the last 10 years. Achhe Din, Skill India, Make in India, 100 Smart Cities, creation of 2 crore jobs and doubling farmer income, were the guarantees announced by the PM. What happened to these guarantees, were they implemented,” he asked. He alleged that there is no warranty for the guarantees given by Modi.
The RDPR minister claimed that there were no specific assurances in the BJP’s manifesto released on Sunday, which would be useful for the youth, women, farmers, the poor and laborers.