From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Updated

Bengaluru, Feb 5: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who openly admits to his rustic background including the experience as a sheep-rearing Kuruba or shepherd, virtually got himself girded up for his "Dangal" moment by retaliating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tirade against his Congress government as a "10% commission regime" based on what "some people told him" at a public meeting in Bengaluru on Sunday with a scathing attack describing the latter as "morally unfit" to be Prime Minister of the country.

Turning the tables and squarely blaming the Prime Minister for his attack against the Congress government at Karnataka BJP’s Parivarthana Rally in Bengaluru Palace Grounds on Sunday evening, Siddaramaiah said Modi’s speech and tirade against his government as "nothing but a bundle of lies."

The close shave to the ruling BJP in Modi’s Gujarat in the recent assembly polls after 22 years of uninterrupted rule and the recent drubbing received by the BJP in Rajasthan ruled by Vasundhara Raje Sindhia, when the ruling party lost two Lok Sabhha seats of Alwar and Ajmer with massive margin and also in the single assembly by-election, Siddaramaiah said as a "clear indication that the countdown to the Modi rule has begun."

"Where is Modi’s Achhe Din?," the Chief Minister asked and wondered how long does the ruling BJP at the Centre and the Modi government need to fulfil "at least some of the several grandiose promises" held out in the run-up the 2014 lok sabha polls. He wanted to know why Modi or his party leaders are silent on the unfulfilled promises even after four years.

Modi, in his speech at the Karnataka BJP’s Parivarthana Rally at the end of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa’s three-month-long state-wide tour, had boasted that BJP would 150 out of the 224 seats in the State and that the Congress party was "already at the exit gate."

"We know what happened with BJP’s plans and boastful bragging of winning 150 plus out of the 182 seats in Gujarat," he said pointing out that Congress party narrowly missed in at least 15 to 20 seats by a margin of 1000 to 5000 votes.

Siddaramaiah, who spoke to reporters in Vidhana Soudha after the Governor’s address to the joint session of the State Legislature, countered all the charges levelled by Modi and said "the Prime Minister has spoken like a BJP man. He made baseless and irresponsible remarks against the Congress government without evidence. He has shown disrespect to the PM’s post by talking such low level politics."

"One expects the Prime Minister to speak responsibly based on facts and figures as well as hard evidence. He cannot speak like an ordinary person by saying "some people told me" about the alleged corruption," Siddaramaiah said and asked the BJP government to come out with the truth.

Replying to a pointed question as to whether Modi is fit to be the Prime Minister, Siddaramaiah said "morally not” since he has been propagating lies and supporting corruption.

"Modi shared the stage with BJP’s chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa, who had gone to jail on charges of corruption. Therefore, Modi is facilitating corruption and supporting corruption...morally has no right to be the prime minister of the country," he said.

The State Government stoutly rebutted the Prime Minister’s claims on sanctioned funds for Karnataka said the NDA Government released funds collected from the State in the form taxes.

As against the allocation of Rs 95,200 during 2015-18 by the 14th Finance Commission, the Centre had released Rs 84,500 crore, Chief Minister said.

"Where do you (Modi) think this money is coming from? It is the taxes collected in the states that is sent to the Centre. It is our money that is coming back,” he said.

"During the past three years, we were supposed to get Rs 95,200 crore, whereas we got Rs 84,500 crore. So they have to give Rs 10,000 crore more,” he said.

The Prime Minister on Sunday alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka has not utilised the funds sanctioned for various projects and it had sanctioned Rs 2 lakh crore since it came to power at the Centre.

Attacking the BJP on ‘ease of doing murder’ remark, Siddaramaiah said wherever BJP is in power, there is no protection for minorities.

"How many people died in Godhra? He (Modi), was the chief minister then. More than 2,000 people were burnt alive," Siddaramaiah said, pointing out that it was BJP-ruled states that topped the list of crime-prone states.

"BJP President (Amit Shah) was involved in murder case, he only speaks lies. Here also they are projecting a CM candidate who has been to jail. PM has hurt pride of Kannadigas by uttering lies about the state," he said.

Flanked by key ministers of his Cabinet at the press conference, Siddaramaiah charged that Modi was "supporting and facilitating corruption" while saying that the Centre was yet to appoint a Lokpal.

"For nine years, Gujarat did not have a Lokayukta when Modi was CM due to fear that corruption would be unearthed."

With inputs from agencies