Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | PM Modi alleges Congress collected Rs 700 crore from liquor shop owners in Karnataka for polls

'People are saying that these days, in the name of elections in Maharashtra, the ‘vasooli’ (recovery) in Karnataka has doubled,' Modi said.

Mumbai: Leading the BJP-led NDA charge in poll-bound Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of collecting upto Rs 700 crore from liquor shop owners in Karnataka.

“Wherever Congress forms the government, that state becomes the ATM of the shahi-parivar (royal family) of Congress. These days, states like Himachal, Telangana and Karnataka have become ATMs of the royal family of Congress,” Modi said as he launched an attack on the Gandhi family.

“People are saying that these days, in the name of elections in Maharashtra, the ‘vasooli’ (recovery) in Karnataka has doubled, elections are in Maharashtra and recovery has doubled in (neighbouring Congress-ruled states of) Karnataka and Telangana,” he said in an election rally in Akola in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Hitting out at the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka, he said: “It is alleged that these people have collected Rs 700 crore from liquor shopkeepers in Karnataka.”

Targeting the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi, which also comprises Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), Modi said: “The entire nation knows that Maha Aghadi stands for nothing but corruption, multi-crore scams, extortion, and token money...It stands for a transfer-posting racket and is synonymous with scandals and loot.”

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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