Karnataka: Congress manifesto has people's mann ki baat', says Rahul
Mangaluru/Mysuru: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who released his party manifesto for the May 12 Karnataka elections here on Friday, took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that while he preferred to speak his “Mann ki Baat,” the Congress manifesto was a voice of the people.
“This manifesto is the voice of the people of Karnataka. It is not a manifesto made by three or four people seated in a closed room. It has been prepared by going to every district, every block, every community and every region and asking the people what they want from the government,” he said, adding, “Moilyji worked round-the-clock and toured the state to prepare it. But the BJP's manifesto is prepared by three or four people and will have lots of unwritten things. There would be a certain amount of corruption and ideas of the Reddy brothers. More importantly, it will not be a manifesto of the people of Karnataka, but of the RSS. It would have what they think is good for Karnataka and not what the people want.”
Handing over the first copy to senior Congress leader B. Janardhan Poojary, who was a special guest at the event, Mr Gandhi stressed that the party, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and senior leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge were committed to fulfilling the promises made.
Claiming that 95 five percent of the promises made in the manifesto of the 2013 elections had been fulfilled, the Congress president adroitly appealed to the Lingayats by saying his party believed in the philosophy of Basavanna – ‘Nudidante Nade’.
On the other hand, Mr Modi had failed to deliver on promises of wiping out corruption, as was evident by the Nirav Modi and Rafael deal issues and also helping farmers get the right price for their produce, he said.
Mr Gandhi later addressed party workers in Bantwal, offered pooja at Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara temple and sought the blessings of Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade.
Meanwhile, during his rally at Periyapatna in Mysuru district, Mr Rahul Gandhi said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he will come here and speak about corruption. But he is unable to see the corruption of one of his former chief ministers, who is also the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, and four ministers. I challenge him to reveal how he used the CBI to get Reddy out of jail and tell people that how the eight Reddy brothers he has given tickets to have looted Rs 35,000 crores of the state. You will never hear any of this from Mr Narendra Modi.”
He said, “We just don't fold our hands before Basavanna, but we follow his philosophy ‘Nudidanthe Nade’ (walk the talk). Mr Modi should learn how to do it from CM Siddaramaiah.” Mr Gandhi later visited Suttur Math in Mysuru and sought the blessings of Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji.
At the math, he enjoyed a sumptuous meal of 19 items, including haalundige, special Mysore pak, soppu hesarkal palya, dosa, mango chithranna, gasagase paayasa and horse gram sambar.
In the evening, he left for Delhi from the Mysuru Airport.
