From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Mysuru, May 4: Campaigning in different parts of his own Varuna assembly constituency on Thursday, May 4, Congress leader Siddaramaiah asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remember that he is India’s PM and not Karnataka’s CM.

Siddaramaiah, who visited different parts of his own Varuna assembly constituency in Mysuru district accompanied by Kannada film stars Shivarajkumar and his wife Geetha Shivarajkumar and Nishwika Naidu said Modi is repeating whatever he said in each election and has nothing to speak about the ruling BJP’s achievements in the State.

"Modi and all other BJP leaders are saying that they will make Karnataka as the number 1 state and saying the same thing in every state during the elections but they conveniently forget the plight of the people,’’ he said and asked Modi to first revive the spirit of India and ensure that Karnataka is not subjected to continuous neglect and injustice.

Siddaramaiah said people of Karnataka and the Congress leaders know how to make the State number 1. "We know what happened in Gujarat under your tenure as chief minister and the so called Gujarat model. The malnutrition of women and children in Gujarat is enough to know what Gujarat model means as any state’s well-being can be judged from the condition of its women and children,’’ he said.

Repeating the criticism of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi over the prime minister crying over being abused 91 times instead of talking about development and how to make India and Karnataka prosperous, Siddaramaiah said: "Modi should stop crying in public and talking about himself and speak about what he has done for Karnataka during the last nine years of his rule when he is in the State for the next three days. This election is not about you but about the future of Karnataka.’’

The former chief ,inister reiterated his charge that Karnataka has suffered gross injustice during the last 9 years of Modi rule with the State getting meager grants despite contributing the maximum revenue to the country’s exchequer in the form of taxes and cess collections.

"Has Modi developed the country and solved its problems during the last 9 years of his rule?  As many as 98% of the programmes launched by the BJP involve contribution of the people in addition to their tax burden and inflation they are subjected to,’’ he said.

The deterioration of India’s standing among the world’s nations can be gauged from the fact that the hunger index has slumped from 55 in 2014 to 107 in 2022-23, India has fallen in gender parity rank from 114 to 135 among 146 countries. The freedom of press ranking has come down from 140 in 2014 to 161 now, the law and order standing has falledn from 66 in 2016 to 77 in 2022, in the human development index the decline is from 130 2014 to 132 in 2022, the per capita income at constant prices has seen a mere increase from Rs 72,805 in 2011-12 to Rs 98,000 in 2022-23 or a meagre per capita increase of Rs15,000 during the last nine years and the debt burden on individuals has increased from Rs 57,000 in 2014 to a whopping Rs 1.90 lakh in 2023.

The Congress leader challenged Modi to a public debate on his government’s nine-year performance as well as the BJP rule in the State.

He accused the BJP leaders of storming Karnataka for making the State as its cash cow and ATM through 40% commission, over which Modi has remained silent as against his rantings against the opposition parties. 

"The people of Karnataka are silently watching the loot and also the games to destroy Nandini brand of milk and its products to benefit the croony capitalists of BJP,’’ he added.