How to enlighten Karnataka’s voters about the benefits of a “double-engine government”? Ask them whether a tractor can run with the wheel of a Maruti car, is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s solution to the problem.
Modi gave this reply to a BJP worker at a virtual interaction he had on Thursday morning with what the party described as “lakhs” of party cadres. The intent appeared to be to try and boost worker morale, dampened by simmering anti-incumbency and desertions by key party leaders ahead of the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls.
“There’s a tractor. A tractor does very good work. But if one of the wheels of the tractor is replaced with the wheel of a Maruti car, will it work? Will it be of any use?” Modi told a worker from Chitradurga district who had asked how he should explain the advantages of a “double-engine government” to voters.
“Just as a uniform system gives speed, in the same way a double-engine government gives momentum to development,” Modi added.
“Double-engine government”, which refers to having governments by the same party in a particular state and at the Centre, has become a pet campaign plank for the BJP at all Assembly polls. The party seems to be using the line to virtually threaten voters that development would suffer in their state if an Opposition party comes to power.
While Modi used the hour-long interaction to answer questions, the party workers who asked them could not be seen. Modi was seen reading out questions and the names and districts of those who had asked them and then answering, which suggests the questions had been decided in advance. The webcast remained focused mostly on Modi while showing amorphous crowds of BJP workers a couple of times.
Modi advised the worker who had asked the “double-engine” question to use brief and simple explanations while talking to voters and avoid long speeches. “Sit with the voters and explain these small things…. People will then understand the real meaning of a double-engine government,” Modi said.
He said that while his government may be pursuing some of the schemes begun by its predecessors, such as housing for the poor, the “speed and scale” of their implementation had increased manifold.
To the day’s first question — how to win polling booths known as citadels of the opponents — Modi advised the workers to form a group of 10 men and 10 women and visit the families living in the area. “Spend around an hour with the families and tell them about the work of the double-engine government. You should have all the information in your phone or in a diary,” Modi said.
Asked about the freebies promised by the Congress in Karnataka, Modi said he was happy that the Hindi word “rewri” (a cheap sweet), which he had used to disparage the political culture of freebies, had become popular in the Kannada-speaking state.
The state’s BJP government is battling allegations that its ministers charge a “40 per cent commission” to clear contractors’ bills. Sidestepping these real issues that the BJP workers in Karnataka are battling on the ground, Modi wound up by explaining why he was publicly sharing tips for poll victories that a rival party could use, too.
“I don’t keep any secrets…But I know they (Opposition parties) can’t do it. This is tapasya (ascetic perseverance). Only the BJP can do it,” he said.
