BJP will never fulfil its poll promises, claims CM

Has the saffron party met its promises made in last 10 years, asks Mr. Siddaramaiah, while responding to BJP’s election manifesto

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated in Madikeri on Sunday that the BJP has never fulfilled the promises made to the people during elections and it will also not realise the promises it is making now on the occasion of the Lok Sabha elections.

Did the promises Prime Minister Narendra Modi made during the 2019 polls be fulfilled, he asked, while interacting with reporters.

The Chief Minister arrived in Kodagu to campaign for the Congress candidate for Mysuru Lok Sabha seat M. Lakshman.

When his reaction was sought to the BJP’s election manifesto, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he wanted to know whether the party fulfilled the promises made in the last 10 years.

Forget about the promises it is making in the 2024 election manifesto. What happened to the promises made in 2014 and 2019 polls, he questioned.

Rejecting the BJP’s claims on creating jobs for the youth, he said the unemployment problem has gone up in the country. “Are the country’s youth finding jobs? Where are the jobs? When there is unemployment, how could it claim to create crores of jobs,” he wondered.

When reporters sought his opinion on certain promises made in the BJP’s manifesto, he said there is a need for a debate on whether the BJP realised its earlier promises and not on the promises it has made now.

“Where is the ache din? Where is ₹15 lakh Mr. Modi promised to everyone? Has the farmers’ income doubled? Is the price rise tackled? The BJP has to first answer these questions before it makes new promises,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

He lashed out at former Chief Minister and Mandya Lok Sabha JD(S) candidate H.D. Kumaraswamy over his alleged comments on the guarantee schemes launched for women. His reported statement shows his mindset. Will the people tolerate such comments, he asked.

On State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra’s statement that the money was being diverted to guarantee schemes by increasing taxes and electricity bills, the Chief Minister said Mr. Vijayendra knew how much the guarantees schemes require every year. The government spends ₹52,000 crore for the implementation of guarantees. “Can the money mobilised by what he says increase power bill, stamp duty and others enough to meet the outlay,” Mr. Siddaramaiah questioned.

Replying to Union Minister Prahlad Joshi’s statement that fear of losing the polls drove the Chief Minister to meet BJP MP Srinivas Prasad, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he and Mr. Prasad are political contemporaries. “Both of us began our political journey almost together. He has already announced retirement from electoral politics. I met him to enquire about his health,” he explained.

None from BJP, RSS became martyrs for country’s freedom: CM

Mr. Siddaramaiah said both RSS and the BJP cannot be patriots and claimed that there is no example of their leaders taking part in the freedom movement. “Show me one instance where a BJP or an RSS person becomes a martyr fighting for the country’s independence,” he asked.

Claiming that the Constitution was in danger, Mr Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP has a “hidden agenda” of amending the Constitution and their leaders’ assertions clearly indicated the party’s thought.

“BJP MP Ananth Kumar Hegde, who was the Minister in Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, had said they have come to power to change the Constitution. Neither the MP was removed from the Ministry nor he was expelled from the party for his comments. This shows the party’s “hidden agenda”, he charged.

Accusing the BJP of showing no respect to the Constitution, he maintained that V.D. Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar had deemed the Constitution against our culture.

“The Constitution is in danger because of the BJP. It needs to be safeguarded. If the Constitution is under threat, it will also result in threat to our existence and survival,” he argued.

He alleged that Prime Minister Modi doesn’t believe in democratic principles but in “dictatorial” principles and charged that the BJP follows the thoughts promoted by Hitler, Mussolini and Franco. “The Modi government is driven by the RSS agenda.”

Today, the question before the country is whether the BJP can safeguard the constitution looking at its rule in the last 10 years. Only Congress can save the Constitution, he said.