Senior Official to the Chief Minister of Karnataka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi punched a hole in the infighting in Congress today during the election campaign in Karnataka state, where the party is the main opposition. At a polling rally in Belur, Karnataka, Prime Minister Modi also took aim at HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular, a top female player in the state.

He said the Congress and the AKP were both “symbols of instability”. “Wherever there are Congress governments in the country, their signature is infighting between the leaders. You know what happens in Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh. People there now know that all the promises made by Congress before the elections are a bunch of lies,” he added.

Then, targeting the AKP, he said, “Congress leaders are fighting among themselves. Congress B JDS team is also dreaming. They want to participate in looting by securing 15 or 20 seats in one way or another.”

There is speculation that in the case of a hung assembly, Congress and Mr. Coomaraswamy will choose to link up to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in the state, as they did in 2018. Minister Siddaramaiah denied such a possibility.

“Here in Karnataka, Congress and the JDS are parading their opposition to each other. But you pull out videos of Congress and AKP leaders before the elections. They were going against each other, but soon the elections were over,” PM Modi said.

The BJP has been focusing exclusively on Karnataka – the only state in which it has power in the south – hoping to secure a second consecutive term in power. A number of union ministers and senior party leaders campaigned in the state. Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to address a series of rallies in the state ahead of the May 10 elections.

However, the campaign is seen as a daunting task for the BJP. Prime Minister Basavraj Bommai’s government has been riddled with allegations of corruption and bribery. Last year, Congress launched a fake campaign – PayCM – to highlight allegations that the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was taking 40 percent commission from builders, contractors and others.