In a stepped-up attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Modi accused the Gandhi family of pushing for the secession of the state from India and “taking the lead in working against the interests” of the nation. The Gandhi family’s campaigning for the May 10 Assembly election ends in Karnataka on Monday, setting the stage for a bitter showdown.
At a rally held to close out his campaign in Karnataka on Sunday, Modi claimed that the “Congress party’s royal family, Shahi Parivar,” has been “openly inciting foreign powers to interfere” and “secretly meeting foreign diplomats who do not like India” in an effort to “influence politics” in the nation.
He claimed that he “never imagined that the tukde tukde gang disease would reach such heights in the Congress.”
“The Congress Shahi Parivar has gone a step ahead in this Karnataka election, breaking convention and crushing sentiments of the country… I want to tell all of Hindustan, with great pain… The Congress Shahi Parivar came to Karnataka yesterday and said they want to protect the sovereignty of Karnataka… Do you know what this means? … When a country becomes free, it is called a sovereign country. What the Congress is saying is that it considers Karnataka separate from India,” he said.
“Do you accept this? Shouldn’t the Congress be punished for saying such a thing? It means Congress is openly advocating Karnataka’s secession from India. I never thought that the disease of the tukde tukde gang would reach such heights in the Congress,” he said.
In response to Modi’s accusation, Congresswoman Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stated, “He forgot development and inflation, and I don’t know what international conspiracy he was talking about,” when addressing a crowd in Bengaluru South. Even now, he does not get why people want to talk about their troubles and their issues.
According to Modi, the Congress was “insulting” the state’s liberation fighters and the “patriotism” of millions of Kannadigas. He claimed that the Congress had a history of splitting families and inciting conflict amongst states. “Whenever they did so, the nation’s citizens banded together to defeat them. They want to take over in Karnataka at any costs for political oxygen,” he added, adding that the party would hear back on May 10.
Every time the Congress assumes control, he claimed, terrorists and criminal elements gain more confidence. He claimed that this is risky for national security. “Congress has frequently shown that it supports terrorists in order to pacify them. That is what we witnessed in Kerala and Karnataka. You must keep this in mind when casting your ballot on May 10. Wherever terror, chaos, and crime are spared, there is damage everywhere, as we are observing in many different countries. Only places with law and order attract investment, he claimed, adding that only the BJP can maintain law and order.
