In an interview to The Wire, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent electoral speeches were “hate speech” adding that he is unfit to be the prime minister of the country.
He added that the Union government has not released funds for the southern state, calling it an “injustice”.
When asked about Modi’s speech on income redistribution in which he termed Muslims as “infiltrators”, Siddaramaiah said, “Modi should not have spoken like this because it’s against the Representation of People’s Act. It is a violation of the Indian Constitution. Being the prime minister of the country, he should not have uttered such a word, he has to take all the people together in this country. He should not just speak against the minorities. It shows that he is trying to polarise the voters.”
He added: “Basically, it is a hate speech. Being the prime minister of the country he should not have made such a speech. It is (an) RSS speech. He is unfit to become the prime minister of this country.”
Siddaramaiah also spoke about why he is confident of winning more seats than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 general elections in Karnataka and how the grand old party is expanding its social base beyond the AHINDA – an acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalit voters.
Siddaramaiah said, “We are not asking any money from the Centre for the guarantee scheme. We are asking in devolution of taxes, there is an injustice caused to Karnataka and this injustice needs to be set right that is one thing. The other thing is whatever recommendations have been made by the 15th Finance that amount needs to be given to Karnataka, the government of India hasn’t given that.”
He added, “In the budget speech (finance minister) Nirmala Sitaraman said that Rs 5,300 crore will be given for the Upper Bhadra project. So far not a single rupee has been released. Since there is an injustice in the devolution of taxes, the 15th Finance Commission recommended a special grant to be given to Karnataka that is Rs 5,495 crore that has not been given. For peripheral ring road Rs 3,000 crore is earmarked and Rs 3,000 crore for development of lakes. So, a total of Rs 11,495 crore has not been given to Karnataka. Is it not an injustice?”
Commenting on expanding the voter base of the grand old party, the Karnataka chief minister asserted that the “Congress party is a party of all sections of society” and that “all communities including Brahmins vote in favour of the Congress party because it is inclusive”.
“Congress party believes in inclusive (politics and includes) all the sections of the society.”
