According to sources, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will announce its electoral platform for the Karnataka Assembly elections on Monday. JP Nadda, the party’s president, will release the manifesto in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and party veteran BS Yediyurappa. According to sources, the party agenda may prioritise youth welfare, infrastructural development, and women’s empowerment.
In order to entice first-time voters, a special announcement can be made for high school graduates and female students. The BJP touched every segment of society in its 2018 election manifesto. Cow protection measures were also included in the party’s manifesto.
Meanwhile, during an election rally in Kolar on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress for drawing parallels between him and a snake. PM Modi stated that the people of Karnataka will give the party a “befitting answer” in the next Assembly elections.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in an election rally in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi on Thursday, said, “PM Modi is like a ‘poisonous snake’, you might think it’s poison or not. If you lick it, you are dead.”
Lashing out at Congress over the remark, PM Modi said, “Today when I am fighting against corruption, Congress is disturbed the most. Congress is now threatening. They say ‘Modi teri kabra khudegi’. Congress’ topic in Karnataka elections is snake’s poison. They are comparing me with a snake and seeking votes from people. For me, the people of the country are a form of Lord Shiva. I accept being the snake on the neck of the god-like public. The people of Karnataka will give them a befitting answer on May 10.”
PM Modi unleashed a stinging attack on Congress, calling it a “outdated engine.”
“Congress is an ‘outdated engine’. Development halted due to them. Congress has a bundle of fake guarantees. They don’t fulfil any promise made to the public. ‘Unfulfilled guarantees’ are their record. They betrayed the public, but BJP fulfilled all the guarantees by doing several development works,” PM Modi said.
Notably, Congress has offered the people of Karnataka a number of promises ahead of the state Assembly elections on May 10, including 200 units of free energy. The Prime Minister went on to say that corruption has always thrived under the Congress and that only the BJP can combat corruption.
“Congress has a reputation of 85 per cent commission. People have no faith in their government. One of their Prime Ministers said that he sends Rupee 1 but 15 paise reach the ground. Congress has always done appeasement politics. BJP is not for appeasement but for satisfaction. Congress has always grown under corruption. Only BJP can take immediate action on corruption,” he said.
“Congress has done nothing for the farmers. They made promises to them but gave nothing to them. It was BJP who gave Rs 2.5 lakh crore to them (farmers) in their accounts. They always neglected the poor. We are constantly working for the development of the farmers,” he added.
PM Modi lashed out at the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS), both of which are contesting the elections separately, saying that both parties are the “biggest hindrance” in development efforts and that an unstable administration cannot have a “vision.”
“Unstable governments cannot have a vision. During the Congress regime, the world was hopeless of India, but as soon as BJP came to power, the world now looked up to India as a bright spot. Karnataka has decided to elect BJP. The double-engine government is very important in the state for continuous development. During Congress and JDS rule the development pace slowed down,” he said.
Karnataka must be saved from the “corrupt government of Congress and JDS,” according to Prime Minister Modi.
“Today’s gathering will make Congress and JDS lose sleep. Both parties are the biggest hindrance in the process of development. The public has clean-bowled them. We have to save the people of Karnataka from the corrupt government of Congress and JDS,” he said.
The Prime Minister is on the ground campaigning for the BJP in the final leg of the campaign, holding a series of election rallies and roadshows to turn the tide in the party’s favour in what is expected to be a three-way race between the BJP, the Congress, and the JDS.
Karnataka will hold assembly elections on May 10 and vote counting will take place on May 13.
