KOPPAL: Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised that his party government would do “even better” in the next five years in the state even as he combined his pre-poll tour with visits to temples in north Karnataka on Saturday.
“We will do better in the next five years after coming to power. Our government will work for the future. We will speak the truth, and do what we promise. We will never lie to you,” he said in his address at ‘Janaashirvad Yatra’.
He listed the achievements of the state government during the last five years, and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emulate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on how to provide a transparent government. Developing the Siddaramaiah vs Modi narrative further, Mr Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of helping corporates by providing them land, power and water at highly subsidised rates in Gujarat. Incentives amounting to Rs 33,000 crore were given to the Tatas for manufacturing the Nano car in Gujarat, he recalled.
And while the NDA government had given merely Rs 55,000 crore for the welfare of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people , Karnataka had allocated Rs 27,700 crore for their welfare in the state alone. “This is the commitment of the Congress. Whenever it comes to power it thinks more about the poor and downtrodden rather than about its friends,” he contended.
Charging the Union government with only making false promises, and speaking lies , he claimed it had not delivered on any of the promises made during the 2014 poll campaign. “Did any of you got Rs 15 lakh in your bank accounts?” Mr Gandhi asked the crowd, appealing to it to trust the Congress. “ On one side you have the Congress with Mr Siddaramaiah and I and on the other you have the BJP and Narendra Modi, who are full of lies,” the Congress president said.
On corruption, Mr Gandhi observed disdainfully that Mr Modi delivered speeches sitting beside former Chief Minister of Karnataka B. S. Yeddyurappa, who was jailed for corruption.
The Congress leader also recalled the role of his party in according special status to the Hyderbad-Karnataka region under article 371 (J) of the Constitution. “The region is now receiving Rs 4,000 crore per year as against Rs 350 crore before, 5000 students have received admission in professional courses under the government quota and 20,000 people have been given government jobs,” he noted.
Speaking at Kukanur near Yelburga later, he hit out at Mr Modi for his claims that the BJP would provide a corruption free government in the state .
Mr Gandhi visited the Huligemmma temple in Koppal district, and Gavi Siddheshwara Math in Koppal, a math of the numerically significant Lingayat community.
