AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala has termed the BJP as the new East India Company that is following the British’s divide and rule policy.
Addressing a press conference in Hubballi on Wednesday holding an empty vessel in his hand, which, he said, is the gift of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Karnataka, Mr. Surjewala said that as the BJP and the Prime Minister have done nothing in the last 10 years of their rule, they have returned to the divide and hate politics for seeking votes. Moreover, double standard is in the DNA of the BJP, he said.
He said that during the election campaign in 2014, Mr. Modi had talked about hope which has turned into hatred now.
“Earlier, he spoke about vision but now he is restricted to television. Then, he talked about being Your Pradhan Mantri but now he has become ‘paridhan mantri’ (one who changes his clothes frequently),” he said.
Terming the BJP as ‘Bharatiya Chombu Party’, Mr. Surjewala said that the BJP-led Union government has given an empty vessel to the people of Karnataka who had promptly paid their taxes. “For every ₹100 revenue, contributed to the Centre, Karnataka is getting just ₹13 back as its share, while it was entitled to get at least half of it,” he claimed.
Mr. Surjewala said that there are two models in the country now. “One is the Congress model of providing guarantees to the people, which is a proven one in Karnataka, where all the five guarantee schemes promised during elections have been successfully implemented, and the other is the empty vessel model of the BJP,” he said.
He said that as the people of Karnataka chose the Congress, Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hate Kannadigas and are seeking revenge.
“Consequently, the ₹18,172 crore towards drought relief has not been given. A sum of ₹6,000 crore announced for Bhadra scheme has not been released. Permissions are not being given for Mekedatu and Mahadayi Kalasa-Banduri projects. All that the BJP-led Centre has given to Karnataka is the empty vessel. And, this time, the 6.5 crore people of Karnataka have decided to give the empty vessel back to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
To a query, Mr. Surjewala said that BJP has already initiated steps to take away reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The lateral entry scheme for secretaries will deprive the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of their promotion to the post, he said.
As many as six lakh reserved posts in 73 PSUs have already vanished and 30 lakh government posts have remained vacant depriving the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates of job opportunities, he said and added that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes sub-plan has already been abolished and so is the pre-matriculation scholarships for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students.
Taking a dig at Mr. Modi, he said that Mr. Modi who had earlier laughed at the Congress guarantees has now stolen the guarantee after the Congress fulfilled what it promised.
In addition to the guarantee schemes in Karnataka, the Congress in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections has promised ₹8,200 per month to women and youths (for skill training), universal health card, ₹3.5 lakh crore farm loan waiver and MSP guarantee. And, the party workers will take the message to households during campaigning, he said.
