Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the people of Karnataka what he had done to stop the 40 per cent commissions being extracted by the BJP government to clear contractors’ bills instead of lamenting how he was being attacked by the Congress.
Rahul broached the topic of Modi’s lament a day after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said he was the first Prime Minister to cry before the people and reel off a list of abuses hurled at him instead of solving their problems.
Soon after her speech, the Congress ran two Twitter campaigns with hashtags CryPM and CryPMPayCM to rub the message in.
Priyanka had said that past Prime Ministers had received “goli” (bullets) in the service of the nation while Modi was crying about the “gali” (abuses) he had to face.
Picking up the thread from Priyanka’s speech, Rahul asked Modi to talk about people’s problems, his development agenda and what he had done for the state instead of talking about himself.
“The BJP did corruption in Karnataka, people branded it a '40 per cent commission' government. Even children call it a '40 per cent government'. The Prime Minister knew everything; he received complaints from the contractors’ association. What did he do? He should tell the people when he comes here.”
Rahul added: “The Prime Minister chose not to even answer the contractors’ association. Religious guru Dingaleshwar Swamy said they took 30 per cent commission from him, giving a discount of 10 per cent. An MLA’s son is caught with Rs 8 crore in the Mysore Sandal soap scam. There were several scams — police sub-inspector scam, assistant professor scam, assistant engineer scam, and cooperative banks scam. A BJP MLA said the chief minister’s post can be bought for Rs 2,500 crore.”
He continued: “The Prime Minister comes here and doesn’t speak about these scams. If a child knows about corruption here, how come the Prime Minister doesn’t know? The people want to know what action he took to stop corruption here. How many people have you sacked? You only say, 'The Congress attacks me'. Tell the people what you did for Karnataka in the last three years after you stole the government. The question here is not about Modi, the election is about the people’s future.”
Rahul also asked Modi what he had done when floods devastated Karnataka and during the state’s border dispute with Maharashtra.
“You are free to talk about yourself but speak at least two words on Karnataka. You don’t even take the names of Karnataka leaders in your speech. We take the names of Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar, Parameshwara… but you don’t take the names of Yediyurappa or Bommai. Talk about BJP leaders a little bit; they will feel honoured.”
This was a careful intervention on Rahul’s part to exploit the dormant feeling among BJP leaders that Modi was trying to pull off a victory on his own strength as if the entire local leadership was a liability.
This impression was created by BJP president J.P. Nadda when he said the voters should ensure that Karnataka is not devoid of Modi’s blessings.
Home minister Amit Shah cemented this perception by saying: “This election is not just to make our candidates MLAs or ministers. This election is to hand over the fortunes of Karnataka to Modi.”
The Congress, which has a robust local leadership, is trying to send out a message that Modi is playing with Karnataka’s pride by presenting himself as the central theme of this election.
Modi is avoiding the local leadership because they are identified with the 40 per cent commission narrative. The Congress understands its strength with the presence of not only Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar but also party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who comes from Karnataka.
