Vijayapura (Karnataka), May 8 : Accusing the Congress of destroying the country to promote a dynasty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and said the party was now getting destroyed while trying to save that dynasty (Nehru-Gandhi family).

"One thing is clear -- the Congress destroyed the nation in promoting a dynasty. Today, to save that dynasty, the Congress is getting destroyed," he said at a rally here.

Modi also targeted the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the poll-bound state, saying there was "not even a single Minister who has not faced allegations of corruption".

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of trying to gain votes by seeking to divide communities.

He claimed that the Congress was spreading lies on the issue of women's security and said that a daughter is a daughter, irrespective of the community she belongs to.

"Whether a daughter is of a Hindu, a Muslim, or a Christian, a daughter is a daughter. Whichever community or religion she belongs to, a daughter should be respected or not? She should get security or not?" he asked.

The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of not supporting the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha.

"I am surprised. The Congress steeped in vote bank politics is giving lectures and, on the other hand, Muslim women are asked to leave houses after triple talaq. We bought a bill on triple talaq. The Congress did not allow it to be passed in Parliament," he said.

Referring to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, he said the opposition party was in such a situation that their leaders did not have faith in their 'naamdar' (dynasty) leader.

In an apparent reference to United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's rally at Vijayapura during the day, he said that Congress leaders were now saying that if she canvasses in the state, it can at least save the security deposits of Congress candidates.

Modi said he had on Monday watched an interview of a Congress leader who said that the son (Congress President Rahul Gandhi) "will not be able to do anything".

"If you bring the mother (Sonia) to Karnataka and she does something, then maybe the deposits can be saved. This is what Congress leaders have started speaking," Modi said.

Modi referred to Vijayapura as the birth place of Lord Basaveshwara, a 12th century social reformer and philosopher who founded the Lingayat religious tradition, and targeted the Siddaramaiah government over its move to recommend minority community status for the Lingayats in the southern state.

He said Lord Basaveshwara's message was against divisions of caste and community but the state government had got into a habit of working against his message and of forgetting his words.

"Bhagwan Basaveshwara conveyed that everyone should be taken along. This Congress government is dividing communities, castes, voters... divide and rule, pit one against the other. They want to save their chair. But Congress leaders do not know this is the land of Bhagwan Basaveshwara. It is not going to be divided into communities and will not accept division among brothers. They will remove the Congress but will not allow (spread of) the poison of casteism," Modi said.

Without taking names, Modi targeted state Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil and said: "Here, everyone knows about how contracts are awarded, how bundles of notes were found in the almirahs of contractors."

He said Bharatiya Janata Party's philosophy was inspired by the teachings of saints of Karnataka and it was seeking votes in the name of development.

Modi said lakhs of people in Karnataka had benefited from his government's schemes on cooking gas connections and electricity connections.

The Prime Minister announced steps for the benefit of local farmers, including a food processing unit and agri-horticultural unit, and Rs 2-lakh insurance for landless labourers.

 

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.