After days of political upheaval over alleged sexual abuse by JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, the State Congress has pivoted its campaign, targeting the BJP for its alleged lack of concern for the poor and marginalized.
The issues of poverty, unemployment, and inflation had receded into the background as the electoral narrative centered around the sexual abuse allegations and the murder of student Neha Hiremath. However, at a recent election rally in Mundagod, Uttara Kannada, KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar voiced scathing criticism of the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shivakumar asserted that Modi’s government had neglected the poor, leading to countless deaths due to the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He further decried rampant corruption in the management of COVID-19 vaccination drives.
“The BJP’s solitary achievement has been the decimation of Karnataka-origin banks like Corporation Bank, Vijaya Bank, and SyndicateBank through mergers with other nationalized banks,” Shivakumar alleged. “Modi promised to double farmers’ income, but that remains an empty promise.”
In contrast, Shivakumar lauded the Congress government’s introduction of five guarantee schemes aimed at mitigating the economic hardships faced by the people. He claimed that while the BJP government had exacerbated the high prices of essential commodities, the Congress had strived to alleviate the suffering of the people.
