Mangaluru: “Congress is like a drama company and its leaders, including national president Rahul Gandhi, are in fear of defeat because of the Modi wave in the entire country”, said senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashok here on Saturday, April 6.
Speaking to reporters at the district BJP office, he said that all Congress leaders are now busy using different tactics to woo the voters. “If Rahul Gandhi is busy in ‘temple runs’, Mithun Rai, the Congress candidate for the Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency is wearing a saffron shawl during his election campaign to woo voters. However, such drama or tactics will not work as the people know the pro-people governance of the Modi-led Union Government,” he stressed.
Pointing out the incidents where the Congress and JDS workers shouted pro-Modi slogans openly during their meetings, Ashok said that such incidents are proof of the Modi wave in Karnataka. “Due to such incidents, some leaders, including Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, have already accepted their defeat. Though the Congress and JDS leaders joined hand to defeat the BJP, both their leaders and supporters are fighting amongst themselves. Their alliance does not work as the people of Karnataka and the whole country is aware of the welfare programmes of the Modi government,” he said.
Ashok opposed the state government’s move to withdraw the 142 cases pertaining to heinous crimes, including the Ulaibettu communal violence. He alleged that the Congress is trying to take advantage of the accused in these cases. “Such decisions reveal the Congress’ stance when it comes to criminals and terrorists. Their leaders question the Pulwama attack and suspect the bravery of our soldiers. Meanwhile, the Congress also assures that it will amend the Sedition Act, if it comes to power. The people will teach a befitting lesson to the Congress for their anti-nation activities in the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
Ashok was in the city ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mangaluru on April 13. As he is the chief convener of Modi’s rally in Karnataka, he came to the city to participate in the ‘Chappara Muhurtha’ of Modi’s public meeting. Modi scheduled to participate in a public meeting at the Nehru Maidan at around 3.30 PM on April 13, wherein over one lakh people are expected to attend.
BJP candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath, Hareesh Poonja, Sanjeeva Matandoor and other leaders like Pratapsimha Nayak, Gopalakrishna Herale, Harikrishna Bantwal and Uday Kumar Shetty also were present.
