Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady/Udupi (HB/DV)
Beltangady/Udupi, Apr 13: "I am ready for discussions on Yettinahole project. It has been implemented for the welfare of the state. No one will face any injustice. I am ready to clear the misconception about the project," said chief minister Siddaramaiah.
He was addressing in the Congress workers' meet held at taluk maidan here on Sunday April 13.
He further said, "There is no Modi wave in Karnataka. In this Lok Sabha elections Congress will secure a minimum of 20 seats in the state. The Election Commission has not admonished me for criticizing Modi. Jagadish Shettar, D V Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar have no knowledge about the law. I need not learn about the law from BJP."
Criticizing BJP prime ministerial candidatet Narendra Modi, he said, "Why has Gujarat government failed to appoint Lokayukta from the past 10 years? Why didn’t they introduce RTI, RTE and MNREGA in the beginning? We should think of the betterment of 126 crore people and vote a leader who can uphold peace and prosperity.
"Modi is telling more lies than truth. Providing false information in the affidavit is an offence under the Indian Penal Code. Modi lied deliberately. It is ignorance to claim responsibility for development in Gujarat and but not for Gujarat riots," he added.
"In BJP's manifesto the same old issues are mentioned. Uniform civil code which the BJP mentions in its manifesto cannot be possible because this is a nation of different religions and languages. Our country is a secular nation," he said.
"Gujarat leads in infant mortality rate and malnutrition and not in development. There is no development in Gujarat. Modi is fooling the people with mere words. Whatever appears in the media about development in Gujarat is an exaggeration," he added.
"BJP has collected money and bricks throughout the country to build Ram Mandir. Why couldn’t they build Ram Mandir when they were ruling at the centre? They will never build Ram Mandir, they only want votes in its name."
Corrupt Administration of BJP
Hitting out at the former BJP government, Siddaramaiah said, "B S Yeddyurappa was the most corrupt chief minister in the history of Karnataka and the only one to go to jail. As many as 13 ministers lost their positions. Yeddyurappa and team looted Rs 1 lac crore in illegal mining. Modi says telling that corruption is in the Congress' blood, but it is inborn in BJP. Why should we vote forthose who looted when they were in power?"
Curb on Moral Policing
"In Dakshina Kannada and Udupi a girl and boy cannot walk together in the street. In the name of culture they are attacked by the moral police. Whoever takes law into their hands will be severely punished under law. Moral policing will be completely curbed. If there is repeat offense, Goonda Act will be imposed against the accused," the CM said.
Development
"The state government has spent Rs 4,400 crore to provide rice at Re 1 per kg to 1.40 crore families. Earlier, BJP had spent only Rs 900 crore to provide rice. Congress government provides this so that no poor person goes to bed hungry," he said.
"Free milk has been provided to 1.05 crore children under Ksheera Bhagya scheme. The government has sanctioned Rs 81 crore for victims of fruit rot disease as compensation. The goverment has planned several more projects.
"Out of 165 assurances in the Congress manifesto, 95 have been fulfilled within 10 months," he added.
On this occasion district incharge minister Ramanath Rai distributed compensation to endosulfan victims.
MLA Vasanth Bangera said, "None of the ministers or MLAs in our government or the CM are facing charges of corruption. We have been providing good administration. Beltangady taluk is developing, hence more grant should be allotted."
Kerala minister K C Joseph, MLA J R Lobo, election campaign committee minister M N Rajendra Kumar, KPCC member Ivan D’ Souza, B Rajeshkar Ajri, Srinivas Kini, DK Congress vice-president Pithambara Heraje, spokesperson Sahul Hameed, K S M Masood, Farook Ullal, B H Khader, and interim Congress president Kodijal Ibrahim were present.
Udupi
Speaking in Udupi later in the evening, Siddaramaiah said, "People are fed up with BJP's corruption and hence they opted for Congress in the last by-elections. People gave power to BJP in Karnataka but they failed to utilize it in the right way and gave poor administration. BJP is a shameless party. Even former CM Yeddyurappa is shameless."
Attacking Narendra Modi and the BJP, he said, "What type of culture do you (Modi) want to protect? Is it like the rave party in Malpe that took place under the aegis of the BJP government? BJP has no moral right to talk about corruption.
"Gujarat is third in terms of industrialization whereas Karnataka is second. Modi's idea of development is nothing but taking land from farmers and giving it to businessmen," he said.
Urging people to vote for Congress, he said the state Congress would support Udupi-Chikmagalur candidate Jayaprakash Hegde all the way.
Oscar Fernandes, Vinaykumar Sorake, Pramod Madhwaraj, actress Bhavya, Mukyamantri Chandru, Rajendra Kumar and others were present.