Kharge slams Modi’s development claims, says only Congress guarantees have brought relief to people

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tore into the Narendra Modi-led Union government at a rally in Mysuru on Saturday and trashed its development claims as hollow while asserting that only the Congress’ guarantee schemes had brought relief to the people.

Mr. Kharge was speaking at Sadhana Samavesha organised by the government, in which 74 development projects worth ₹2,578 crore were either inaugurated or foundation stone laid for them.

Copied schemes

The AICC chief said that though the BJP was critical of the guarantee schemes announced by the Congress in the run-up to the last Assembly elections in the State, the former had ended up announcing similar schemes in States where it is in power.

“But I have visited most of the BJP-ruled States in the country and none of their guarantee schemes have been implemented properly on the ground,” said Mr. Kharge, who rebuked Mr. Modi for failure to implement welfare schemes. The Prime Minister should visit Karnataka and see for himself how the guarantee schemes have been implemented and how they have been benefiting crores of people, Mr. Kharge added.

Taking on the Modi-led government and the BJP on development issues, Mr. Kharge said that when the Congress is in power, it empowers the people socially and economically, while the BJP’s policies result in the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people.

Mr. Modi keeps asking what the Congress has done for the country during the years it was in power. But instead of talking of the Congress, let him tell the country what the BJP has done in the last 10 years, dared Mr. Kharge.

Economic viability

Dismissing sceptics who had questioned the economic viability of the guarantee schemes, Mr. Kharge claimed that if the government had gone bankrupt, it would not have sanctioned ₹50 crore for each MLA to take up development works or launched new projects. These are welfare schemes and they are benefitting crores of people, said Mr. Kharge.

The five guarantee schemes of the Congress implemented in Karnataka are known all over the country, said Mr. Kharge and challenged the BJP to show one similar welfare programme launched by it which had worked on the ground.

The Congress president dismissed reports of the flight of capital from Bengaluru to Andhra Pradesh or other neighbouring States and said, on the contrary, investors were courting Karnataka. ‘’When the Congress is in power, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, graces the State with prosperity but when the BJP is in power, she turns are back and flees,’’ quipped Mr. Kharge.

Ready for debate

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, speaking on the occasion, dared the Opposition BJP and JD(S) to a debate on the development works in the State. The leaders of the two parties, who were misleading the people of the State “with a series of lies”, should come to one platform for a debate on the development works of the government. “I too will come,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the Congress had silenced the Opposition parties with its works, and said the ‘hasta’ (the party’s hand symbol) had given strength to women through the guarantees. “The government has given a befitting reply to its critics with its works. Each family gets around ₹5,000 a month through the guarantees, ensuring financial stability,” he noted.