Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Congress was traumatised by the growing popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and hence was making demeaning remarks about him.
Addressing a public meeting in Mysuru as part of the election campaign in Krishnaraja constituency on April 29, Rajnath Singh said the ’poisonous snake’ jibe of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge betrayed the desperation of the Congress that Mr. Modi’s mass appeal was not diminishing but continues to increase.
“It is a reflection of the state of mind of Congress, which is distressed and afflicted by trauma because of Mr. Modi’s popularity,” he added.
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The Defence Minister echoed the views of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that the Congress is dividing the country on the basis of religion by favouring reservation on religious lines.
Mr. Singh said reservation on religious grounds is unconstitutional. “The BJP believes in politics based on justice and humanity, and want to co-opt all sections of society,” he added.
On the issue of corruption, which is the main plank of the Congress against the BJP in Karnataka, Mr. Singh referred to the statement of late PM Rajiv Gandhi that for every rupee sanctioned for development, 85 paise were siphoned off and only 15 paise reached the intended beneficiary.
‘’The BJP has released ₹28 lakh crore for various welfare projects in the last 9 years. Due to Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, not a single paisa or rupee has been siphoned off. But if one were to apply the observations of (former PM) Rajiv Gandhi, under Congress dispensation only ₹4 lakh crore to ₹5 lakh crore would have reached the villages out of ₹28 lakh crore,” he said.
The system has been overhauled under Prime Minister Modi. “Though the BJP was in power for 9 years, there are no charges or allegations of corruption against any Minister,” said Mr. Rajnath Singh.
Referring to the pace of development under BJP, he said India had only 74 airports in the last 65 years But it has added 74 airports in the last 9 years alone. National highways are being constructed at the rate of around 5 km per day during the tenure of the Congress. But under the BJP, 38 km of NH were being laid daily. If the current rate of growth prevailed in the years before the BJP came to power, India would have been among the developed nations by now, he said.
The Defence Minister said the Centre has great plans for Karnataka and wants to speed up industrialisation and the momentum of development could keep going only if the BJP is elected in the State.
