Taking a dig at AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge for his “poisonous snake” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has said that the Congress is going to pay a heavy electoral price for insulting Mr. Modi.
Addressing an election rally at Kamalapur village (Kalaburagi Rural Assembly Constituency) in the district on Friday, Mr. Yediyurappa said that Mr. Kharge’s statement reflects what he [Mr. Kharge] himself and the Congress feel about Mr. Modi.
“Mr. Kharge’s mind is filled with poison and the people of the State will give a befitting reply to the Congress on May 10 through the electoral ballots. I am sure that the Congress is going to lose at least 10% of its vote share in this election for Mr. Kharge’s statement against the Prime Minister,” Mr. Yediyurappa added.
Mr. Yediyurappa criticised Mr. Kharge for making a U-turn on his statement. However, Mr. Kharge failed in his attempt to clarify on his vile remarks by stating that he was not attacking Mr. Modi but he mentioned “poisonous snake” for what according to Mr. Kharge is the BJP’s “decisive ideology”.
Listing out the various initiatives taken up by Mr. Modi, Mr. Yediyurappa said that Mr. Modi has laid the foundation for a stable Indian economy. He has empowered the farmers by giving them modern digital technology. He also listed out various welfare schemes launched during his tenure as Chief Minister.
Reiterating that the people of the State are eager to replicate the success of the BJP by voting it to power again, Mr. Yediyurappa exuded the confidence of winning more than 140 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The former Chief Minister also trained his guns at the former Minister Revu Naik Belamagi who is contesting on Congress ticket against BJP legislator Basavaraj Mattimod in Kalaburagi Rural constituency. Mr. Belamagi betrayed the BJP which made him MLA four times and Minister twice, to join the Congress, he said.
Mr. Yediyurappa appealed to voters of Kalaburagi Rural constituency to elect Basavaraj Mattimod with a margin of not less than 25,000 votes and ensure that Mr. Belamagi lost his security deposit.
BJP State general secretary N. Ravikumar and Basavaraj Mattimod also spoke.
