24.4.13

RaGa campaigns in Karnataka



Two days after BJP’s heavy artillery in shape of LK Advani, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj touched down in different places in Karnataka, the Congress’s main draw, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi,whistle-stopped through three places in north Karnataka, touching a raw nerve with the people: the state’s lost prestige.
“Karnataka was shining under Congress rule. Everyone spoke proudly about Karnataka in Delhi,in Japan and in America. Bangalore became famous for job opportunities, and people from far-away places came here for work. But in five years of BJP rule,the state has lost its shine,” Rahul told people in Sindhanur in Raichur on Tuesday, in sweltering heat at the Government College grounds. “The BJP made tall promises of giving jobs, non-stop electricity and water for irrigation,but forgot those promises and robbed the state,” Rahul said. Not far into the speech, though, he pretty much made the same promises, and chose not to take on the BJP for its promise of free laptops to students and subsidized rice — perhaps realising that doing so might backfire.
Reflecting the upbeat mood in Karnataka Congress, Rahul said, “It’s clear that Congress will form the government in Karnataka and it will be the government of aam aadmi, unlike the BJP which allowed two brothers to rule the state,” — an obvious reference to Reddy brothers, mired in corruption charges.
“When I last visited this place, I promised only one thing, Article 371 (J), to give Hyderabad-Karnataka special status. And we fulfilled that promise,” he added.

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