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.

PM likens opposition to Pakistan; attacks Manmohan, Chidambaram, Rahul

Breaking News : In an aggressive speech, with oodles of sarcasm thrown in, more reminiscent of his election campaign speeches in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today equated opponents of ‘note ban’ of trying to shield the corrupt, just as Pakistan starts firing on Indian border posts to distract Indian Army so that infiltrators can sneak into Jammu and Kashmir under its cover.

The PM also attacked Congress leadership, particularly former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Questioning the former PM's integrity, Modi expressed surprise that there was no blot on Singh even when he has been part of India's economic policy think tank since the early-1970s.

The PM was speaking at the foundation laying ceremony of Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. Modi said when he announced ‘note ban’ decision he didn't think it was possible that politicians and political parties would be so unashamed as to come out openly to defend the corrupt.

“Now I understand for whose benefit these protests (by the opposition) are taking place,” he said. Apart from likening the opposition to Pakistan, he also said his opponents reminded him of a gang of pickpockets at work at a village or town fair. He said the disruptions in Parliament during the winter session was to alert and protect the corrupt. Modi said when a pickpocket is at work in a village fair his associate distracts the police by misleading them and shouting that the pickpocket has fled in the other direction. “This is exactly the strategy being employed now to protect the corrupt,” the PM said at the event at the Banaras Hindu University.

The PM’s comments come a day after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi demanded at a public rally in Mehsana in Gujarat that he come clean on allegations that he had received over Rs 40 crore in cash payments from individuals associated with the Sahara India Group and Aditya Birla Group when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. The BJP rubbished the allegations, and said these stem from the Congress Vice President’s frustration at successive electoral defeats.(more)

How can Modi transform India?

Why is Narendra Modi so popular among Indians?

NeelaLohith Penmetsa, Following Modi since 2013. He said..

I become an admirer of Modi ever since he came to the national stage. After learning about him slowly through various sources, he became my superhero and joined my list of idols like Sachin, Rahman etc. These are the people who I admire at a personal level.

Observing Modi I immediately understood that he is a MASTER of presentation and public relations. I believe that’s a great thing because we are living in a generation where presentation is everything. Actions and words can be well thought of but some reactions are instinctive. Such reactions come from a person’s true nature and value system.

I was watching Modi’s town hall meeting on youtube and saw a couple of such reactions from this man.

Context: Modi was felicitating the prize winners of some social governing initiative.

A young girl went up the stage to collect her prize touched Modi’s feet as a sign of great respect. His reaction to this was equally respectful regardless of his age and stature.

Another team went up the stage to meet him. As they were getting ready for their picture taken with the prime minister, Modi accidentally stepped on a person’s foot. He was super quick to apologise immediately both with words and action.

I guess this is one of the reasons why many like him. He behaves like a very normal and simple person even though he is the leader of a BILLION people.

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6-yr-old writes to PM, gets prompt help for heart surgery

Vaishali, a 6 year old child, was diagnosed with a hole in her heart.

Her family belonged to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category but lacked documents for the same.

She was rejected medical aid by many hospitals.

That’s when she wrote a letter to our Honorable Prime Minister.

Within 5 days, her school authorities contacted her uncle.

As per the instructions of the PMO, the District collector and Health Officer arranged for an immediate meeting.

Ruby Hall Clinic came forward to her rescue and the operation was successfully conducted for free.

On June 26th, 2016, she met the man who changed her life.

The picture is in loving memory of that meeting.

The ability to reach out to common masses, in times of their need, keeps his popularity intact.

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Know more about How can Narendra Modi transform India?

Few years back our former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for a cup of tea. CM Modi, being a very self-respected man did not want to drink free tea. So he decided to give an idea regarding a problem of our country to our PM. The problem is as follows :

A huge portion of the border between India and Pakistan runs through the deserts of Gujarat and Rajasthan. For security from Pakistan we are constructing a fence on this land. But due to the condition of soil the fence keeps on collapsing.

Modi gave a solution to this problem. The solution was to ask the Border Security Force, which having its own technical staff and engineering group is an established organization, to construct solar power parks over this hundreds of square kilometers on the desert. This single task will get the following jobs done:

It will give the Border Security Force some work to do in desert. Thus creating new jobs and eradicating unemployment.

It will solve the problem of energy crisis as it will be a huge source of renewable energy.

It will act as a barrier which will make the job of trespassing in India from Pakistan much difficult solving the problem of security.

Therefore many problems will be solved after getting this job done. This is an example of killing many birds with one shot.

After reading my answer, you decide yourself how Modi can transform India. More about Narendra modi Click here

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Prime Ministers of India

14th Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi (2014 - current)

13th Prime Minister of India
Manmohan Singh(2004-2014)

12th Prime Minister of India
Atal Bihari Vajpayee(1998-2004)

11th Prime Minister of India
I. K. Gujral(1997-1998)

10th Prime Minister of India
H. D. Deve Gowda(1996-1997)

9th Prime Minister of India
P V Narasimha Rao (1991-1996)

8th Prime Minister of India
Chandra Shekhar (1990-1991)

7th Prime Minister of India
V. P. Singh (1989-1990)

6th Prime Minister of India
Rajiv Gandhi(1984-1989)

5th Prime Minister of India
Indira Gandhi (1980-1984)

4th Prime Minister of India
Charan Singh (1979-1980)

3rd Prime Minister of India
Morarji Desai (1977-1979)

2nd Prime Minister of India
Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964-1966)

1st Prime Minister of India
Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964)

**Modi's flights abroad bill: Rs 77 crore**

The frequent and frequently discussed foreign trips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have chalked up a bill of Rs 77 crore for chartered flights in the first six months of his tenure, according to data from his office.

Modi took charge as prime minister on May 26, 2014. According to data from the Prime Minister's Office, this is the amount spent on five international trips between June 15 and November 20 (see chart). He also went twice to Nepal, but flew in Indian Air Force aircraft.

The expenditure for these trips has not been revealed. Till December 2015, Modi has flown abroad 19 times, but the bills have been processed only for 2014 till now. Click here for more details.