Congress President Rahul Gandhi, on his fifth visit to the State in recent months, toured the districts of Shivamogga and Davangere on Tuesday. BJP President Amit Shah, on the other hand, held a lengthy OBC convention at Kaginele in Haveri district and also interacted with seers at Badami in Bagalkot district under the banner of ‘Karunadu yatre’.
Over the past week, the two leaders have been almost shadowing each other against the backdrop of the Karnataka government according religious minority tag to Lingayats just ahead of the May 12 Assembly elections.
Both the parties have launched an extensive drive to woo the Lingayats, who are numerically and politically strong in central Karnataka.
Rahul, addressing a rally in Shivamogga, hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping silent on the recent alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals, and in the wake of a perceived dilution of certain rules of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST Act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word,” he said.
Praising the Congress government in Karnataka, he said: “One should learn from Karnataka as to how the welfare status of SC/ST has been taken care of, which the Modi government has ignored.”
“It seems the RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold a stick, wear knickers and speak lies.
“I think the Prime Minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises,” he added.
. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.
Shah takes a dig
Shah, meanwhile, alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had prevented the people of Karnataka, particularly the backward classes, from getting the benefits of the 116 schemes launched by the NDA government at the Centre.
Taking part in the OBC convention, he called Siddaramaiah calling him a ‘fake AHINDA ((Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) leader’.