Bengaluru: The political temperature shot up in Karnataka today as two of India’s biggest leaders held parallel rallies in the poll-bound state.
In what can be termed as an ultimate faceoff between Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both leaders targeted each other for the lack of development in Karnataka as well as some major national issues.
While PM Modi was in Kalaburgi in south Karnataka, Gandhi was in Aurad town of Bidar district.
Evoking ‘Kannada’ pride, PM Modi said, ‘Karnataka has a rich history of valour with immortal names like Field Marshall Cariappa and General Thimayya. But, how Congress governments treated them is well recorded in history. In 1948 after defeating Pakistan, General Thimayya was insulted by PM Nehru and then RM Krishna Menon.’
The Prime Minister also brought back the memories of surgical strikes and said that, ‘Congress party’s disrespectful attitude for our armed forces is well known. They called our Army Chief a ‘Sadak ka goonda’ right after surgical strikes, they have consistently shown their disdain for our brave heroes.’
However, it was Rahul Gandhi’s blazing attack on the BJP and the Prime Minister, which proved his aggressive political strategy.
Taking on PM Modi’s 15-minute dare, Gandhi said that ‘PM Modi resorts to personal attacks and character assassination when he’s desperate. I never resort to personal attacks. Instead, I ask questions. Questions PM Modi doesn’t answer.’
The Congress chief also attacked the BJP over the multi-billion Nirav Modi scam. Gandhi said that, ‘while the poor people of the country stood in queues and went through troubles post demonetisation, the likes of ‘Chhota Modi’ looted people’s money and escaped.’
Talking about the ruling state government in Karnataka, Gandhi said that Siddaramaiah government has fulfilled over 90 per cent promises.