BJP’s manifesto is a poorly crafted fantasy, says Rahul Gandhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) poll manifesto for Karnataka was a “poorly crafted fantasy” built around a weak plot that has nothing unique to offer voters, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday.

The 47-year-old leader, who is in the eighth leg of his ‘Jana Ashirwada Yatre’, covered Bidar, Kalburgi, Gadag and Haveri districts in the election-bound state and launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that his politics was divisive and aimed at spreading hate. “If you have read the Congress manifesto, don’t waste your time on this one,” Gandhi tweeted about the BJP manifesto and gave it a rating of one out of five.

A day after Modi accused the Congress of ignoring Dalit leader and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Gandhi hit back saying “Why is the PM silent on atrocities on Dalits and muzzling of Dalit voice in Parliament? His men are beating up Dalits and tribals across the country but Modiji does not utter a word. He doesn’t allow Kharge ji to speak in Parliament.”

Karnataka goes to the polls on May 12 and the ruling Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) are the main players.

Gandhi alleged the PM was favouring a handful of industrialists and neglecting the weaker sections of society. In spite of huge savings due to lower international crude prices, the government was not spending that mo- ney on Dalits, tribals and women but favouring a handful of industrialists, he added.

“Why isn’t the PM speaking about the Nirav Modi loot? Two lakh crore has been looted by 5-10 industralists,” he said, referring to the diamond merchant who is absconding.

Warning the electorate that the BJP would only implement the agenda of its ideological fount, the RSS, he said the saffron party did not respect Kannada culture, language or way of life. He also called Modi’s description of Karnataka capital Bengaluru as a “garbage city” insulting.

Asserting that a Congress government in 2019 at the Centre would waive all loans of farmers within 10 days of coming to power, he said Modi was not interested in their welfare.

Gandhi also said the Congress would not only win the Karnataka polls but also the forthcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan apart from forming the government at the Centre next year.