Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, May 5: Nehru Maidan here was painted saffron as thousands and thousands of people gathered to witness the election rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing the gathering of about 30,000 people, PM Modi began his speech with a greeting in Kannada, invoking Shree Manjunatha Swamy, Koti-Chennaya and other names important to Dakshina Kannada, much to the delight of the crowds.
On demand from the boisterous crowds, the PM stopped the translator and gave his speech in Hindi.
"I am overwhelmed at your enthusiasm and zeal. I will return your love with interest through development. Every time I come here, I have received so much love from Mangaluru. When I went to Lakshdweep recently, I arrived here at past midnight and thought everyone would be asleep, but you came to see me at the airport in such large numbers. I will never forget that moment. Tulunadu is famous for neer dosa and sajjige bajil - no one can forget that either.
"Political pundits who still have doubts about the results of Karnataka elections, who still say that there will be hung assembly should come here and witness this sight. BJP will win with full majority, the people of Karnataka will bring us to power. The writing is on the wall," he said.
Taking a jibe at Congress over the issue of EVM (electronic voter machine) tampering, the PM said, "That is why they (Congress) have started saying Modi does EVM tampering, that they lose because of EVM and not due to Modi. When they win EVM works perfectly, but when they lose they sing 'EVM tampering'. On May 15 Congress can give any excuse it wants, it is certain that people will give them a fitting reply for their sins."
He went on to say that EVM stands for him stands for three things. "E stands for the Energy of the electorate, V stands for the Value addition, and M stands for Motivation for development among the electorate. This is EVM for me.
Attacking the Congress further, he said, "There was a time when they were ruling everywhere from Parliament to panchayat. No one had the courage to speak against them. Their arrogance reached the skies. But one by one, Congress lost in all the states - Maharastra, Goa, MP, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Himachal, North East - now is the turn of Karnataka. Congress has become like a fish out of water. It has lost its mental balance and doctors are trying hard to figure it out.
"When there is surgical strike they have problem with the army, if they lose election they have problem with EVMs, they have problem with RBI, with judiciary, they mock everything. Being in power for 70 years taught them no responsibility.
"The one who has Karnataka's welfare at heart, the one who wants Karnataka's youth to develop, who wants the ordinary person in Karnataka to do well, such a person will never accept Congress in one's lifetime - such are sins of Congress.
"They make fun of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - is that even something one should mock? Is it not the government's responsibility to build toilets for women and girls? Whatever Modi does, they have to oppose, it has become a habit. They still cry about note ban. After note ban, several Congress people were caught with bundles of notes, so they are still unhappy. But I am determined that the money that was looted from the poor for decades will be returned to the poor. Congress has got nothing to do other than opposing me - Whether I am in country, visiting a state or on foreign tour," he said.
"International bodies like the World Bank and IMF are lauding India, but Congress says Modi bought them too. If it was possible for me to buy anyone, I would have bought the most important people, the public. I cannot do that. I work hard, I toil day and night, and I do it for this nation alone," he declared.
Attacking the Gandhi family, he said, "In Congress, one family is everything, for me, my family is the 125 crore people of this nation. I am working for you (people), while they (Congress) are working for just one family. The people have to decide who they want - the one who does everything for the benefit of one family, or one who sacrifices everything for the people.
"Such a family is danger to democracy. Whenever I speak against them they pounce on me. But Modi is speaking the truth, and you (Congress) cannot tolerate the truth. You can do what you want, but you can never hide the truth. No matter what you do, the people of the country understand everything," he said.
Accusing the Congress of supporting mafia of all kinds, he said, "Wherever there is family politics, there is scope for mafia. The family become dependent on such forces, that is why there is liquor mafia, sand mafia, land mafia, transfer mafia - only scams and mafia in Karnataka today. In Mangaluru if an ordinary person wants to build or repair house, he has to run pillar to post for a load of sand. But the paths of corruption will close on May 12 when you (people) end it by pressing the button for lotus symbol.
"In Karnataka, crime has become a norm. More than two dozen BJP workers have been murdered just because of political differences. Is this democracy? Chief minister Siddaramaiah will be punished for his sins on May 12. The culprits of all these murders will be brought to book after May 15," he said.
"Our government has always worked for the poor and the backward classes. On the day an ordinary person like me became the PM, I had said that my government will stand for development, for the poor, for the welfare of this nation. Congress nationalised the banks but the poor never got access to them. But we brought Jan Dhan Yojana through which the poor were brought to the mainstream of country's economy. The poor of this country have now been able to save Rs 80,000 crore which will come to their use. This way we have empowered them. By 2021 there will no person homeless in India. We released funds of Rs 9,000 crore to build 1,58,000 houses in Karnataka, but the Congress government took no interest. With much difficulty, they have so far constructed only 30,000 of these houses. Shouldn't they be punished for this?"
"In 2014 when general elections came, the Congress was discussing about given 9 or 12 gas cylinders in a year. They said, if you vote for Congress, you will get 12 cylinders a year. There is lack of vision in such thought. When we came to power, we decided to give free gas connections to women so that their health was not affected. Out of 25,000 crore households in India, we have already given free gas connections to 4,000 crore families through Ujwal Yojana.
"We launched direct benefit transfer scheme. Rajiv Gandhi had himself said that one rupee from government became one paise by the time it reached the beneficiary. That is what Congress did. But we started direct benefit transfer so that benefits went straight to bank accounts after Aadhar verification. After doing this, we learnt that there were several names of people who never even existed but money was getting collected in their names in government offices. The Congress used to talk about how much money went into schemes, now people talk about how much money they have got from the government.
"Our mission is safe Karnataka. Every day we are hearing news of girls and women getting harassed here. When girls went out, their family would question them. I say, stop questioning the girls and start questioning the boys about where they go and what they do. Our government last week decided to give death penalty to child rapists. I want to ask the Congress leaders, is it not true that Muslim women were getting harassed because of triple Talaq? Rajiv Gandhi had the opportunity to abolish it, but he did not do it for vote bank. Muslim women were crying on television because of harassement due to triple Talaq, so we brought a law to ban it. We were able to pass the bill in Lok Sabha, but the Congress hindered it in Rajya Sabha. Is that not anti-women? Are they not insulting women?" the PM questioned.
He also said that the coastal region has much scope for development but he Congress government never bothered. "We have brought 50 projects to develop the coastline, including blue revolution, Sagar Mala and more. Mangaluru will benefit from this and it will boost the economy. The lives of fishermen will change for the better. We will build four fishing harbours in Karnataka and finance deep sea fishing boats for fishermen."
Modi also assured that under Yeddyurappa-led BJP government, areca farmers would be done justice.
He also lauded Mangaluru artist Karan Acharya whose Hanuman vector art went viral and was the target of criticism as well. "Karan Acharya is Mangaluru's pride. Those who cannot appreciate his talent have no place in democracy," he said.
"Congress should not remain in Karnataka for a single day. Go to every house, wipe out Congress and bring BJP to power with a full majority under Yeddyurappa," he told the BJP workers.
"The only force that can defeat Congress is BJP. All surveys show JD(S) at number three, it can never do the task of ending Congress," he added.
"Banni kai jodisi, sarkar badalisi, BJP gellisi (come join hands, change the government, make BJP victorious)," he concluded with a flourish in Kannada.
Uttar Pradesh minister Mahendra Kumar Singh in a passionate speech said that the crowd at the rally seemed like a Kumbh Mela was going on in Mangaluru. Attacking the Congress, he said, "I have prepared 167 questions for Congress leaders. If they can answer them satisfactorily, I will retire from politics." He went on to list various topics of his questions - on Article 370, sharing of Indus river with Pakistan, PoK, India-China war, Tashkent declaration, various scams, farmer suicides and other issues.
MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Capt Ganesh Karnik, all the BJP candidates from Dakshina Kannda and others also spoke.
Kota Srinivas Poojary, Sanjeev Matandoor, Capt Ganesh Karnik, Appachu Ranjan, Rukmayya Poojary,