Kalaburgi (Karnataka) [India]: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday slammed the election manifesto of the Congress, saying it was cheating voters by giving false assurances.
According to the CMO, at a public function to campaign for the BJP candidate Malikaiah Guttedar in Afzalpur on Thursday, he said the coming Assembly election is very crucial and a lot of issues have cropped up before the polls.
He said they are before the people’s court with a report card and there was a pro-BJP wave across the Afzalpur constituency.
The CM said, “Guttedar has been with the people and has responded to their problems. The BJP candidate will win the coming election with record votes. The Congress leaders of this region failed to do any development work in the last five years.”
While Guttedar was there, the Afzalpur Lift Irrigation Scheme was implemented by him as Water Resources Minister, he said.
Bommai said the Congress Party has cheated the Kalyana Karnataka region. “No single recruitment had been done in this region. The Congress government had earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for the development of Kalyana Karnataka but not spent a single penny. They only bought time to spend that money.
He said, “Article 371 J was not implemented on the ground. No law is useful if it remains on paper. The Congress leaders owe an explanation on what development they brought to the state after Article 371 J came into effect. He neither built classrooms nor improve the roads.
The BJP government brought congnisable development to the state, spending Rs 3,000 crores, and reserved Rs 5000 crore for further development in the current fiscal. Each constituency was given grants worth Rs 100 crores. As many as 24 PHC centres were started.”
Prime Minister Modi had promised to provide water to every household and in keeping with the same, 40 lakh houses across the state were provided with water connections.
The Congress government, in the last 72 years, had given water connection to 25 lakh households. But the BJP government provided tap water to 40 lakh houses in just three years, the CM added.
Taking on Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah, the CM said he talks of social justice and claims himself to be the protector of the poor, downtrodden, and Dalits.
“They prospered in the name of Dalits but the development of Dalits never happened. The Congress leaders advised against hiking reservation for the SC/ST people, saying it was a hornet’s nest but the BJP government went ahead with it without bothering about the consequences.
Now, the Congress is talking about cancelling reservation if it comes to power. Leaders of that party must tell openly whether they are pro-reservation or anti-reservation.
He said, “I did not know why AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge is silent. Voting for the Congress is as good as reservation being cancelled. So, the people must not vote for the Congress. They seem to have forgotten Basavanna and Ambedkar.”
Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
