Udupi,May.1: “Congress govt is supporting the Sand Mafia in the state. Govt is hand in glove with this mafia. We should get rid of such govt and the people of Karnataka have an opportunity now” PM Modi alleged. He was speaking at the election rally of BJP at MGM grounds Udupi.

“People of Karnataka should realize the dream of Mahatma Gandhi. Dissolution of Congress was his wish. We have fulfilled Gandhi’s wish in most of the states. Now it is the turn of Karnataka. You have this opportunity to fulfill Mahatma’s wish. If you dissolve Congress in the state you will have Gandhi’s blessings” Modi said sarcastically.

“Law and order has completely broken down in Karnataka. BJP workers are being murdered. Democracy should not allow violence. If the govt does not put an end to this youth cannot have a bright future. The central govt has taken strong measures for the safety of Women. It has promulgated an ordinance that recommends capital punishment to rapists.” Modi claimed.

Speaking about JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda, Modi said, that whenever HD Deve Gowda visits him he makes it a point to welcome him when he alights and sees him off similarly. “This is the respect we show to elders though politically they may be our opponents. But Congress President Rahul has insulted HD Deve Gowda by criticizing him. Such arrogant people are a threat to democracy” opined Modi.

Congratulating Udupi for its achievement in Education, Modi said that a young Athlete from Udupi Gururaj Pujari has brought laurels to the country by winning medal in Common wealth meet. He expressed happiness that none in Karnataka can compete with Udupi. 40 years back people of Udupi brought Jan Sangh to power in their municipality. The undivided DK district is not only home to temples but also the birth place of banking. Banking revolution began in this district. People like T.M.A Pai, Haji Saheb or A.B.Shetty founded banks and helped the poor to access banks.” Modi said.

He called upon the workers of BJP to visit every house and impress the voters about the future of Karnataka ; bring BJP to power and make BS Yeddyurappa CM again.

On the eve of the rally District BJP presented Modi with a crown of Yakshagana and a statue of Srikrishna. UP minister Mahendra Singh, Om Prakash, Members of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel , Ms. Shobha Karandlaje, District BJP president Ratnakar Hegde, Jayaprakash Hegde, Kota Srinivas Poojary and others were present at the rally.

Modi begins his speech in Tulu

“Karavalida Mahajanakuleg namaskarol” ( salute to the public of Karavali) thus began Modi his speech and then shifted to Kannada and offered his tribute to Kanakadasa, and said he is offering his tribute to the land of Krishna, Parashuram, karma Bhumi of Madhwa and the galaxy of eight saints.

He ended his speech by calling upon the BJP workers to join hands in building a clean, secure and beautiful Karnataka by throwing out the present govt and bringing BJP Govt.

Audience say no to Translation

Modi began his speech in Hindi. however when the first sentence of the translation was over,audience urged Modi to speak in Hindi and said no to translation. Modi obliged by sending the translator off and continued his speech in Hindi.

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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee weakened further and fell to a record low of 95.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, amid a strong dollar and worries over inflation amid elevated energy prices.

Forex traders said the rupee is expected to trade with a negative bias amid inflation concerns and the strength of the US dollar in the overseas market.

The West Asia crisis and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted crude petroleum imports into India. Also, the sharp rise in crude prices has made fuel imports costlier.

The rupee has become the worst-performing currency in Asia for the year, registering a loss of over 6 per cent so far this year, as elevated crude oil prices, a strong dollar and concerns over the West Asia crisis weighed on investor sentiments, traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 95.74 against the American currency.

In a volatile trade, the USD/INR pair witnessed an intra-day high of 95.61 and an all-time intraday low of 95.96 against the greenback before settling at 95.73 (provisional), down 7 paise from its previous close.

The rupee on Wednesday slipped to an all-time low of 95.80 against the US dollar, and settled at 95.66 against the greenback.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias amid inflation concerns and a strong dollar. Rising inflation in the US dimmed expectations of a rate cut by the Fed," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

Choudhary said geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran and foreign fund outflows may also pressurise the rupee.

However, any intervention by the RBI and import duty hike on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD/INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.50 to 96.10, Choudhary added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.51, down 0.01 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.50 per cent at USD 106.16 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 789.74 points to settle at 75,398.72, while the Nifty climbed 277 points to 23,689.60.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 4,703.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, wholesale price inflation shot up to a 42-month high of 8.3 per cent in April on the back of a spike in energy prices that followed the disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict.

Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation was 3.88 per cent in March, while it was 0.85 per cent in April last year.

"Positive rate of inflation in April 2026 is primarily due to an increase in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, other manufacturing and non-food articles, etc," data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.