Kalaburagi: The gloves were clearly off as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was addressing his first public rally in Karnataka for the coming Lok Sabha poll on Wednesday here, described the coalition government in the state as "majboor " (helpless) and advised people against making a "similar mistake" of electing such a government in the coming Lok Sabha poll and instead give him a clear mandate.
"Sometimes we pay a heavy price for a small mistake," he maintained, also warning the people against backing the mahaghatbandhan planned by the opposition parties, contending that the country would have to pay a heavy price if a "mahamilavat sarkar" was voted to power.
Mr Modi, who was addressing a well attended public meeting at the Navodaya Vidyalaya grounds, said that while he was working to root out terrorism, corruption and poverty, the opposition was uniting to remove him from power. "Politicians, who are only concerned about their families and their own interests, don't like the new policies of the new India initiated by my government. In their own interests, they don't want a "mazbooth" (strong) government at the Centre, but one which is "majboor" (helpless). But when an individual has the blessings of the people, why should he fear anybody, be it Pakistan, thieves or the dishonest," he asserted, to lusty cheers of "Modi, Modi, Modi" from the audience.
In an obvious reference to the Indian Air Force's strike on Balakot in Pakistan, he said, "the world is seeing a new kind of courage in India . This courage is not Modi's, but of the 150 crore people of India," as more chants of "Modi, Modi, Modi" filled the air.
Dwelling at length on the various measures he had initiated to curb "the looting of the exchequer evident under Congress rule" and for the welfare of the people, he said the "dalals" (middlemen) were naturally angry with him. "Because of Jan Dhan, the linking of Aadhaar and so on, the 100 rupees that the Centre deposits in the account of beneficiaries, directly reaches them and no middleman gets a single paisa. There was a time when there were eight crore fictitious beneficiaries, who looted the exchequer annually in the name of the poor, the old and disabled, but this has now stopped," he said, adding, "Will these people not be angry with me or not? Jab tak Modi rehata hai, thab thak choron ki dukaan bandh kardega" (as long as Modi is there, he will shut down the shop of looters").
Mr Modi promised that villages would see rapid development with 12 crore farmers receiving Rs 75,000 crore annually under the Prime Minister's Kisan Nidhi Samma Yajana."
Earlier, he inaugurated a Bharat Petroleum Corporation's depot, an IT Appellate Tribunal Building , an ESIC Medical College and PG Centre, and a hostel for girl students from the North East in Bengaluru.
