Udupi, May 4: Former chief minister and Congress Manifesto Drafting Committee chairman M Veerappa Moily said that instead of investing Rs 56,000 crore in HAL Company of Bengaluru to manufacture Rafale fighter jets as per the agreement between India and France during UPA period, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has scrapped the deal in order to help private corporate companies and thus betrayed Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday evening, Moily said that though Modi had toured in the coastal region during last Assembly election, the Congress had managed to win seven seats out of eight in Dakshina Kannada and three out of five in Udupi. This time, the Congress would sweep all the 13 seats, he exuded confidence.

Dalits of the country have turned against the central government and in the same way, women have also been opposing the Modi government. Though the police have arrested rape accused BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh, the party has not yet suspended him from the party. It is ridiculous that the minister of Jammu and Kashmir who supported the rape accused of Kathua incident was given promotion and thus, both the Prime Minister and the Central government have lost their credibility, he said.

BJP is on the declining path and it would be clear after May 12. Same thing will happen in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh elections. Rahul Gandhi would come to power in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said.

On BJP manifesto, Moily said it was a copy of Congress manifesto, because it has no credibility. There is a drought for new programmes in that manifesto. Assurance of waiving of farmers loans upto Rs 1 lakh is another cheating strategy of BJP. Because, when the BJP was in power, then CM Yeddyurappa himself had said that he cannot mint the money, he said.

During Modi’s tenure, more than Rs 95000 crore was looted from the banks and the NPA which was just 2 per cent during UPA period was jumped to 10 per cent now, he said.

Rajya Sabha Member and AICC leader Oscar Fernandes, leaders Dominik P, Janardhan Tonse, Gopal Bhandari, Dinesh Putran, BA Bava, MA Gafur and others were present.

Siddu is Pulikeshi-2

When asked as to why Siddaramaiah is contesting from two constituencies despite having confidence of winning the election, Moily said that it was not the decision of Siddaramaiah. It was a decision of the party and there is a historic importance for that decision, he said.

Drawing inference from history, Moily said that Pulikeshi-II of Chalukya dynasty had made Badami as their kingdom. During that period, when King Harshavardhana of Uttar Bharat had tried to cross Narmada River, Pulikeshi-II had defeated him and chased. In the same way, Siddaramaiah who is contesting from Badami, would check Modi’s invasion into the South, he said. 

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Kolkata, Nov 6: Two FIRs have been lodged against actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty for allegedly making provocative statements during a BJP event in Salt Lake area near Kolkata last month, police said on Wednesday.

The complaints pertain to Chakraborty's speech on October 27 at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake, during a BJP programme attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Kolkata to launch the party's West Bengal membership drive.

The first FIR was filed at the Bidhannagar South police station based on a complaint by an individual, while the second was lodged at Bowbazar police station.

"We have started an investigation into the case," a senior officer of Bidhannagar police said.

Shah was also present at the programme, which was organised to kick off the West Bengal leg of the BJP's membership drive. Shah had also felicitated Chakraborty for being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year.

Although Chakraborty was unavailable for comment, BJP state president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the FIRs a result of "vendetta politics.".

Majumdar alleged that the TMC government "has once again used the police to unfairly target well-known actor and senior BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty".

He accused the chief minister of employing such tactics "to serve political interests" and claimed that the state government's actions were part of an ongoing attempt to discredit political opponents.

"There is nothing provocative in his speech. These are nothing but attempts to intimidate him by using police as a political tool," he said.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dubbed the BJP's allegations as baseless.

"The allegations of political vendetta are baseless. He shouldn't have made such provocative remarks. The law will take its own course," he said.

Chakraborty, who received India's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, earlier this year, had asserted on October 27 that the 'masnad' (throne) of West Bengal would belong to the BJP after the 2026 assembly elections, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal.

While speaking at the programme, Chakraborty, a BJP leader, said, "In 2026, the 'masnad' will be ours, and we will do everything to achieve the goal."

In an apparent reference to TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's communal remarks aimed at BJP workers during the Lok Sabha elections, Chakraborty had allegedly made provocative remarks.

Chakraborty cautioned that no one should attempt to intimidate saffron party voters into abstaining from voting in the next assembly elections.

He called upon the booth-level workers of his party to resist any such attempts.