Rahul Gandhi asks Narendra Modi to talk on Karnataka growth plan

Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on his party's plan for Karnataka's growth, while accusing him of resorting to personal attacks.

"Personal attacks won't win the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) any votes. The Prime Minister should instead tell the people of Karnataka about his plans for the state," Gandhi told a public meeting in Bhalki in Bidar district, about 700 km north of Bengaluru.

Gandhi, addressing a "Jana Aashirwada Yatre" here, was referring to Modi's remarks of May 1 challenging the former to talk about the Congress government's achievements in Karnataka without a paper in hand.

The Congress-led government has delivered all its promises made before the last Assembly election in 2013, Gandhi said. "The Congress has delivered its promises while the Prime Minister has been taking credit for it."

The 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family asked Modi to also explain to the people of Karnataka why a "corruption-tainted" man like B.S. Yeddyurappa was chosen as the party's Chief Ministerial face.

Yeddyurappa, who was the BJP's first Chief Minister in the state in 2008, was forced to step down from the post in 2011 over his alleged involvement in a land scam.

Slamming the Prime Minister's silence when Dalits and women are attacked in the country, he said: "The assault unleashed upon the women under the BJP rule has been condemned internationally." Karnataka, the Congress chief said, has set an example for other states through its welfare schemes.

The Congress, in its manifesto released on April 27, vowed to create 1 crore jobs in the southern state over the next five years. The BJP, on the other hand, is yet to release its manifesto.

Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS

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