BSY, Reddys looted state, but Modi wants them in Assembly: Rahul

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for levelling corruption charges against the Siddaramaiah government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the BJP had given tickets to eight tainted candidates for the elections.

Rahul questioned the prime minister's authority to speak on corruption while being surrounded by BJP leaders accused of financial wrongdoing.

"Modiji comes here and speaks about corruption. When (fugitive diamantaire) Nirav Modi, whom Narendra Modi knows very well...knows by the first name, runs away with Rs 30,000 crore, he does not utter a word."

"When he (Modi) stands on a stage, on his one side is Yeddyurappa who has spent time in jail, on the other side there are four others who have been to jail," he told a gathering during a roadshow.

"They have given tickets to eight corrupt persons. This is the truth," he said and referred to the Reddy brothers of Ballari, linked to the iron ore mining scam.

"When in power, Yeddyurappa and Reddy brothers looted Karnataka. Our government brought them to justice. Now Modi is trying to take eight of them from jail into the Vidhana Sabha," the Congress chief had tweeted on Wednesday.

Insisting that government funds should reach the common man who works hard, Gandhi claimed that the BJP-RSS did not believe so.

"They feel that the money should go to the pockets of the five to 10 rich industrialists. This is the difference in ideology. We say the poor, the farmers, the marginalised and the people of Karnataka should get the benefits," he said.

"If you (Modi) don't want to waive the loans taken by farmers, then make me understand, every year, why do you waive lakhs of crores of rupees of loans obtained by 10 rich industrialists of the country," he said and claimed that the Centre had waived loans amounting to Rs 2.5 lakh crore of 15 "super rich" people.

Residents had gathered on either side of the road in the town to catch a glimpse of the Congress president. They raised slogans in his favour as soon as Rahul's vehicle arrived. He got down from the vehicle and shook hands with the people. Many in the crowd took selfies with him.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, ministers D K Shivakumar, R V Deshpande, Congress leaders Mallikarjuna Kharge, B K Hariprasad and others were present with Rahul. 

At Honnavara in the same district, Rahul questioned the prime minister about his pre-election promise to deposit Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of each citizen, using the country's money stashed in foreign banks. Some people raised pro-Modi slogans amid the Congress chief's speech.

Residents had a tough time due to the traffic snarls caused by the roadshow. They faced inconvenience in the hot sun as buses were diverted from the bus stand to the police parade ground.