MYSORE: Taking on Narendra Modi’s assertion that corruption runs deep in Congress’s blood, the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the BJP is a product of corruption.
Referring to Modi’s jibe at the Congress during his rally on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah took on his Gujarat CM. “Modi should know that former CM B S Yeddyurappa was jailed on charges of corruption. Former minister G Janardhan Reddy is still in jail for illegal mining,” he said during the Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s election rally at the Maharaja’s College Grounds from where Modi had launched a tirade against his party 24 hour before.
You are accusing the Congress of corruption when you are a product of graft. This is ridiculous. You should know that your party leader Reddy will not come out of jail, he said. Modi didn’t appoint Lokayukta for ten years, he stated arguing that it is the Congress which is fighting against graft and pointed at the Right to Information to buttress his point.
The BJP is falling back on its favorite issues, Siddaramaiah said pointing at the BJP manifesto promising Ram Mandir at Ayodhya and uniform civil code. “This is an indication of malicious intention of the saffron party, which will lead to bloodbath. The BJP is seeking to promote communalism,” he stated.
The party’s Mysore candidate Adagooru H Vishwanath accused the BJP of taking assistance of RSS for campaigning. “The battle here is not between the Congress and the BJP but between the Congress and the RSS,” he stated. He also took objection to Modi’s claim that Mysore’s tourism potential is untapped and the city lacks infrastructure. The Congress-led UPA government pumped in crores of rupees for the development of the city. But the BJP government looted it by indulging in corruption, he stated.
Though actor and Mandya candidate Ramya had lent glamour quotient to the meet, Mandya district minister M H Ambareesh’s absence was felt by the crowd.
