A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the six-month-old Congress government in Karnataka has "damaged" the state and stunted its development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dubbed Modi's statements a "political speech" that was not based on facts.
On Sunday, the prime minister, who was addressing a public rally at Khandwa in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh said, "Look at Karnataka, where the Congress government was formed only six months back. The chief minister does not know how long he will remain the chief minister. Everyone is staking the claim to be the chief minister. The development in the state has been stunted. Wherever the Congress party comes to power, the chief minister and deputy chief minister compete with each other to loot the state. A case in point is Karnataka," Modi had alleged.
Taking serious exception to Modi's statement, Siddaramaiah shot back saying, "It is nothing but a political speech that is full of lies. PM is targeting Karnataka because he is totally disillusioned after his party lost wherever the PM had taken out road shows and public rallies during the Karnataka polls. That is the reason why the BJP had not bothered to appoint the leader of opposition (LOP). This is the extent of BJP's political bankruptcy. Modi is alleging that our government is corrupt. But it was his party in the state that was running a 40 per cent commission government. We are probing those charges now. As a prime minister, one should not lie. He should speak based on documentary evidence. He can take information from the CBI, Central Intelligence or RAW."
Siddaramaiah claimed that the country is financially bankrupt under Modi's rule and the Centre was meting out step-motherly treatment to Karnataka. "The Centre is yet to release the drought relief fund. In fact, the PM had stated that it was impossible for us to implement the five guarantee schemes. Have we not implemented them? I never expected a statement like this from the prime minister of the country. It is not befitting of a PM."
