Karnataka election: Manmohan attacks Modi for 'economic mismanagement'

With the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 days away, the BJP and Congress are running fierce campaigns. Catch today's latest Karnataka election campaign updates here

As the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 draws closer, top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders are holding back-to-back rallies in the state to boost their respective parties' chances of securing a win in the crucial election.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, too, joined the Congress election campaign in the state on Monday, addressing a press conference in Bengaluru. Singh attacked the Modi government for its economic policies, saying that the country was facing a crisis that was avoidable.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha workers. Addressing Karnataka BJP workers via NaMo app on Monday, the Prime Minister accused the Opposition of being against new technologies promoted by the central government.

Looking to dethrone the Congress-led government in Karnataka, Modi kick-started a series of election rallies in the poll-bound state on May 1, with a total of 21 rallies scheduled. On Sunday, he addressed rallies in Chitradurga, Raichur, Jamakhandi, and Hubli.

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As the Karnataka election inches closer, a political slugfest has erupted in the state, with parties firing a barrage of barbs at one another. Gandhi has advised Prime Minister Modi to "copy" and implement at the Centre the Karnataka government's plan for the welfare of Dalits and Adivasis. Modi, for his part, reminded voters that United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party chief Rahul Gandhi were out on bail in connection with a Rs 50-billion (Rs 5,000-crore) scam.

Karnataka will go to the polls on May 12 to elect its representatives for the 224-member Assembly. The results will be out on May 15.

Here are the top 10 developments in the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign by Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi:

1) Manmohan Singh attacks Modi, BJP: Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, former PM Singh accused the Modi government of hurting the economy with moves such as demonetisation and the hasty implementation of goods and services tax (GST).

" Two major avoidable blunders of the Modi govt have been demonetisation and hasty implementation of GST. The losses the economy suffered due to these blunders have severely hurt our micro, small and medium enterprise sector and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs," Singh said.

Singh also attacked the government over a series of banking sector frauds, saying that swindled money almost quadrupled from Rs 284.16 billion in September 2013 to Rs 1.11 trillion in September 2017.

"Perpetrators of these frauds, meanwhile, escape with impunity. The economic mismanagement of the Modi government, and I say this with great care and responsibility, is slowly eroding the general public's trust in the banking sector," he said.

Karnataka polls: Modi chides Cong; Siddaramaiah reminds him of 'Reddy gang'

There is a fierce competition between the BJP and Congress for Karnataka Assembly election 2018. PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath will address rallies in Karnataka today. Catch Karnataka polls 2018 updates

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were in battleground Karnataka on Thursday, crossing swords over a plethora of issues including corruption, ahead of the May 12 voting to elect a new government in the state.While Modi played a nationalism card and accused the Congress of promoting only one family, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at him for his "personal attacks" that "doesn't behove" of a person holding a high office.Modi alleged that the Congress had insulted the Indian Army by questioning the truth behind 2016 surgical strikes against terrorists in Pakistan. He said the Congress was spreading "lies" by accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being anti-Dalit, anti-Muslim and anti-women.Seeking to give an adrenaline boost to BJP campaign to wrest the state from the Congress and form its government for a second time, Modi addressed three election meetings and Rahul Gandhi four during their whirlwind trip.The Karnataka government is a "gold medalist" in corruption and Congress leaders are "drunk on power", Modi told a public meeting in state capital Bengaluru.Dubbing the Siddaramaiah government as "seedharupaiah government" (corrupt), a punning allusion to the chief minister's name, Modi said an ordinary man cannot get done any work without bribing officials. "Because of this seedha rupaiah government Karnataka is immersed in debt," he told an election rally in http://Ballari.In the line of Congress fire over the BJP granting party tickets to Reddy brothers, accused of involvement in a humongous illegal iron ore mining scam, the prime minister hit back. "This Karnataka government frustrated all attempts by the Centre to stop illegal mining in Ballari....to allow the auction of mining blocks. But the Siddaramaiah government failed to formulate a mining policy in five years," he told an election rally in Ballari.Rahul Gandhi, who addressed election rallies in Aurad, Bhaki, Humnabad and Bidar, slammed Modi for personal attacks against him. Gandhi, however, said whether the attacks on him were right or wrong, he would not make any personal attack on Modi because he was the prime minister.He questioned his silence over the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal and fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi who defrauded the Punjab National Bank of thousands of crores of rupees.Rahul Gandhi said Modi had promised to deposit Rs 1.5 million (Rs 15 lakh) each in poor citizens' bank accounts but didn't do it. Gandhi said Modi also promised 20 million (two crore) jobs to the youth every year and higher minimum support price to farmers but he did none of this.

Here are the top 10 developments in the BJP and Congress' ongoing Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign:

1) Siddaramaiah takes to Twitter to attack Modi, Adityanath: Stung by the attack launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath against him, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday took to micro-blogging site Twitter to hit out at them.

With hashtag #ModiHitWicket, Siddaramaiah posed questions to Modi as he arrived for extensive canvassing in Kalaburagi, Ballari and Bengaluru.

Siddaramaiah reminded Modi to mention about the "loot of Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) worth iron ore" allegedly by BJP's Janardhana Reddy.

BJP bets its all on Yeddyurappa for its re-entry in South India

Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who faces charges of underhand dealings in the state’s biggest mining scam, will lead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next Assembly election in 2018.

The strongman of the majority Lingayat community is facing a trial in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)  court for receiving bribes from a private mining company.

The decision to make him the face of the Karnataka BJP and perhaps its chief minister candidate was taken by a party high command that is pledged to fighting corruption.

The decision follows pressure by the Lingayat community after Yeddyurappa edged himself out of a slew of cases on illegal denotification of government land. The cases were quashed by the Karnataka High Court on procedural grounds, which the Supreme Court upheld.

In 2011, Yeddyurappa had to step down as chief minister after his name figured in a Lok Ayukta report on a Rs 3,000 crore scam in the iron-ore rich Bellary district. Apart from Yeddyurappa, party colleagues Sriramulu, Janardhana Reddy, Anand Singh and Nagendra were indicted for shipping thousands of tonnes of iron ore to China.

Yeddyurappa, who is now a Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga, will on April 14 take over of the state unit’s reins at an event the BJP plans to use to project itself as a Dalit-friendly party.

On Saturday, BJP leaders thronged Yeddyurappa’s residence in Bengaluru, calling him the only popular face of the party who could lead it in elections two years from now.

The developments were watched warily by the Congress, which has been ruling the state since 2013. “It shows their hypocrisy in appointing a person charged with corruption,” said party spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao.

The Congress government has been facing flak over infighting and for not providing development. “In the last three years, there were irritants… Now that is over, we have two years to showcase our performance,” Rao said.

“Yeddyurappa has time and again proven he is inevitable for the BJP. The party’s  calculation is that only he can galvanise the state unit,” said Sandeep Shastri, political scientist and pro vice-chancellor at Jain University.
 

While some would give full marks to the BJP for starting early in the only state in the south where they stand a chance – having given up on Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – finally, it was a tainted leader that the "party with a difference" has to fall back on.