'Scared' Congress forced to bring those who had stopped campaigning: PM’s swipe at Sonia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a potshot at Congress for bringing in its former party President Sonia Gandhi for campaigning in the Karnataka election after its "lies did not work".

"Congress is so scared ahead of the polls that they are forced to bring people for campaigning so that they can put off the whole blame on each other. Congress has created an ecosystem to peddle its lies. These blatant lies have no truth at the ground level. But, the people know about the truth of the party. So, irrespective of how large a balloon they create, there won't be any benefit," ANI quoted the PM as saying at a rally in Shivamogga.

Sonia Gandhi has largely stayed out of campaigning since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls due to health reasons. However, she took part in her first election rally in Karnataka on Saturday in Hubballi.

The PM also claimed at the rally that the BJP started the campaigning earlier than expected due to the NEET Exam on Sunday.

"We conducted the roadshow early as there was a NEET exam today. No political party dares to conduct or address any rally or public meeting so early. I received a lot of love today from the public of Bengaluru," he said.

The Prime Minister then said that the Congress cannot develop Karnataka and their development is only on "paper."

He stated, "The women of Karnataka were completely neglected by the Congress government in the past. They have done no development work for the farmers. BJP has worked for the farmers of the state. Now all the lies of Congress are fully exposed and BJP will form the government with full majority,"

PM Modi continued, "The education of girls and women's empowerment were pushed back during the Congress rule. The girls used to drop out of school because Congress did not make separate toilets for girls. But BJP campaigned to remove the injustice done to girls and today more and more girls are going to school".

He pointed out that the BJP did not put the burden of the increased price of fertilizers due to the Russia-Ukraine war on the farmers.

"Through the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, we provided facilities to the farmers. In the name of loan waiver, Congress used to fill middlemen and its coffers. We made a direct transfer of Rs 80,000 crore from the Kisan Samman Nidhi to the farmers' accounts. We have provided 2,000 new types of seeds to farmers in 9 years. Despite crises, we have never allowed any shortage of fertilizers in the country," he added.

Earlier in the day, the PM took part in the second round of his roadshow in Bengaluru.