People decide candidates' fate: Siddaramaiah slams BJP chief's remark in campaign speech
Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has slammed BJP National President JP Nadda for asking the people of Karnataka during a rally to vote for BJP ‘so that the state is not deprived of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s blessings’, saying that Modi was not God to bless anyone.
Posting a media report on Nadda’s speech, Siddaramaiah tweeted on Wednesday, “In democracy, people decide the fate of the candidates & the elected representatives can serve them. @narendramodi is not God to bless anyone…. I condemn the statement of @JPNadda about @narendramodi 's blessings on Karnataka. Looks like he needs lessons on democracy…. All states are equal & have same rights according to the constitution. There is no space for dictatorship in democracy.”
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The Congress leader added in Kannada, “If your statement that the people of Karnataka should not be deprived of @narendramodi's blessings is a threat, I condemn it. If this shows your ignorance, I pray that God blesses you with wisdom @JPNadda.”
Several other Congress leaders, including General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, Priyank Kharge and party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, took to Twitter, to criticize the BJP president, accusing him of threatening and insulting Kannadigas.
Calling PM Modi a ‘narcissist’ and sharing a video clip of Nadda’s speech, Priyank Kharge tweeted that Karnataka had witnessed a lot of development work well before Modi took charge as the Prime Minister and that Modi’s blessings were not needed for the state to develop and prosper.
Citing a string of instances of development in the state, Kharge tweeted, “Do you think that Kannadigas lived in Stone Age before Modi became PM? We didn’t have a language or thriving culture, we didn’t have food, clothes, shelter or electricity? There were no roads, drains, no schools, no universities or no dams. We were all jobless?... Even before Modi ji blessed us with Make in India we built ITI, BEL, HMT, BHEL, Mangalore Refinery, Mysore lamps and other major & small scale industries We built NAL, HAL where planes and helicopters are being manufactured, we built ISRO & we are sending satellites to space… We were the IT Capital of India before a megalomaniac became the PM & @JPNadda ji many people from North India come looking for jobs & funding their startups here. Even before PM said #AtmaNirbharBharat, we had built many dams in Karnataka. Have you built any dams?”
Jairam Ramesh criticized Nadda for ‘excessive devotion’, tweeting in Hindi, “There should be a limit to devotion too, Nadda ji. Why are you threatening and scaring the people of Karnataka? With the blessings of the people of Karnataka, a Congress government is going to be formed.”
Expressing her fury at Nadda’s words to the people of Karnataka, Supriya Shrinate tweeted, “So when all else fails in Karnataka - BJP resorts to open threats? How dare does BJP President @JPNadda threaten the people of Karnataka by saying that they will be devoid of Modi’s blessings if they don’t vote for BJP? In a democracy does the PM bless people or does he discharge his constitutional duties? People are not at the mercy of Modi, they have rights under the constitution. And one of them is to vote freely for whoever they wish to vote for - and no power on earth can take that right away… Don’t be so drunk on power Mr Nadda and certainly don’t undermine Karnataka and the wonderful self respecting people of the state. You must apologise.”
ಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಜನರೇ ಜನಾರ್ಧನರು, ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದ ನೀಡಲು @narendramodi ಅವರು ದೇವರಲ್ಲ,
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 19, 2023
ಜನರ ಸೇವೆ ಮಾಡಲು ಜನರಿಂದ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ನೆನಪಿರಲಿ @JPNadda ಅವರೇ. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/QmFcfWEnCh
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Kerala BJP leader PC George booked for 'hate speech'
Kottayam (Kerala), Jan 11: Kerala BJP leader P C George has been booked for allegedly making remarks that could incite religious hatred, police said on Saturday.
George was accused of hate speech against a minority community during a TV discussion held early this week, sources said.
The Erattupetta Police here registered a case against the senior leader on Friday based on a complaint filed by the Muslim Youth League Municipal Committee.
He was booked under various sections of the BNS, police said adding that further proceedings would be initiated soon.
"The case was registered after the statements of the complainants were recorded," a police officer said. Meanwhile, BJP strongly condemned the police case against George and alleged that it was a "political vendetta by the LDF government."
Senior BJP leader and the party's Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar accused the CPI(M)-led Left government of not saying a word against Hamas and admitting PDF followers into their fold.
Justifying George, Javadekar said he has already clarified that his intention was to express opposition to extremism and not to target any community.
"FIR against PC George is political vendetta by LDF government, which doesn't say a word against Hamas and admits PDF followers into their fold," he posted on his 'X' handle.
"UDF is also guilty of appeasing extremist politics. It never appreciated ban on PDF or condemned Hamas. PC George has already clarified that his intention was to express opposition to extremism & not to target any community. Kerala stands firmly against extremism," he added.
BJP state chief K Surendran also criticised the Pinarayi Vijayan government for registering the case against George and said the party would face the case legally and politically.
He also alleged that the government registered the case against the senior leader under the pressure of communal forces.
FIR against PC George is political vendetta by LDF government, which doesn’t say a word against Hamas and admits PDF followers into their fold.
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 11, 2025
UDF is also guilty of appeasement of extremist politics.
It never appreciated ban on PDF or condemned Hamas.
PC George has already…
