(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Congress yesterday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of insulting the city of Bengaluru and the people of Karnataka through his remarks during campaigning and sought an apology from him.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the prime minister had heaped a 'special insult on Bengaluru and its citizens by calling it a 'city of sins and 'city of garbage.
'He (Modi) has insulted the people of Karnataka, insulted its entrepreneurs, IT technologists by labelling the city, which is known as India's Silicon Valley, as ‘valley of sin', Singhvi said.
'A city and a state which symbolises development, aspirations, youth, opportunities, has been reduced to city of sins. This is a special insult that the prime minister has heaped upon Bengaluru and people of Karnataka, he added.
Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a rally in Bengaluru on Thursday, had accused the state's Congress government of having reduced Bengaluru to a valley of sins from Silicon Valley, and added that the city had been changed from a garden city to garbage city, from computer city to crime city, and from a start-up hub to a pothole club.
Taking strong exception to Modi's remarks, Singhvi said that the remarks and the language used were 'totally unbefitting of a prime minister.
'While terming it as ‘city of sin', the prime minister totally ignored that ‘S' stands for superior, ‘I' stands for information technology and ‘N' stands for novelty. This is what Bengaluru is. It's the real start-up hub, Singhvi said.
'But Modi only finds sin in that, and that is deplorable. You don't create jobs, can't stop farmers suicide, you have the lowest agriculture growth rate in a very, very long time and you accuse the Kannadigas of being a valley of sin. It is shameful and country needs an apology which we are never likely to get, the Congress leader said.
The Congress party also dubbed the BJP manifesto for the Karnataka Assembly election ‘a fake promise' and a ‘pack of lies'.
'What is the guarantee the BJP will implement its promise of waiving farmer's loans up to Rs100,000? We are aware that Modi has not fulfilled several of his promises made during 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This promise in the manifesto will be another ‘lie', state Congress chief G Parameshwara told reporters here.
The BJP's 60-page manifesto unveiled here yesterday proposed waiving all farmers' loans up to Rs 1 lakh from nationalised and co-operative banks in the very first Cabinet meeting after the swearing-in of the new government, among other promises like free laptops to college students and free smartphones to poor women.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day tour to the poll-bound state, took to Twitter to rate BJP's manifesto, giving it one out of five points.
'New Book Review: The BJP Karnataka Manifesto, inspired by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, is a poorly crafted fantasy built around a weak plot, that has nothing unique to offer to voters. If you've read the Congress manifesto, don't waste your time on this one. Rating: 1/5 Recommendation: Avoid, mocked Gandhi.
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