Bhatkal, April 26: In a scathing attack, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify why the BJP gave tickets to Karnataka's tainted Reddy brothers to contest in the May 12 assembly elections.
"Modi, who talks about fighting corruption, must explain to the people why he is supporting the corrupt Reddy brothers by giving ticket to contest in the state assembly polls," said Gandhi at a public meeting in this coastal town.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) selected G. Karunakara Reddy and G. Somashekar Reddy, elder and younger brothers of the mining scam-tainted G. Janardhan Reddy, to contest from Harpanahalli and Ballari seats in the Ballari district.
The party has also fielded Lallesh Reddy, nephew of the Reddy brothers, from the BTM Layout segment in Bengaluru against state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy of the ruling Congress.
Accusing Modi of allegedly changing the country's premier investigation agency CBI to "Central Bureau of Illegal Mining", Gandhi charged the Prime Minister with supporting the Reddy family in the state.
"We want the people of Karnataka to be a part of the government and not of the Reddy brothers. Why is Modi supporting and protecting the corrupt? We will never allow them to loot the state," he said.
Janardhan Reddy was arrested and jailed for about two years after the state's Lokayukta named him in the multi-crore iron ore mining scam in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for about a decade (2001-10).
Gandhi also accused Modi of allegedly writing off the loans of rich industrialists but being indifferent to farmers.
"When I had asked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to help farmers, he immediately waived off Rs 8,000 crore worth of loans," he added.
Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound southern state starting Thursday, launched the ruling party's campaign for the elections in the coastal region.
He will release the party's election manifesto in the port city of Mangaluru on Friday, along with senior leaders like Karnataka in-charge K.C. Venugopal and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
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Neha's murder not case of 'Love jihad', Siddaramaiah reaffirms
Mysuru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated on Saturday that the murder of MCA student Neha Hiremath is not a case of "love jihad".
“I strongly condemn the act. The killer was arrested immediately. This is not a case of love jihad. The government will make sure that stringent punishment is given to the killer,” the Chief Minister told media persons in Mysuru.
He said that it is unfortunate to use one’s death for political reasons.
“The case is being politicised unnecessarily. The protests will not affect the government,” the Chief Minister said.
Neha, the daughter of a Congress corporator in Hubballi, was stabbed to death inside the college campus in Hubballi city by Fayaz Kondikoppa on Friday.
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However, other students caught Fayaz and handed him over to the police.
Meanwhile, the parents of Neha claimed that their daughter’s murder is a case of “love jihad”.
‘Love jihad’ refers to a bogus claim made by the Hindu right wing that Muslim men are ‘luring’ Hindu women into marriages to convert them to Islam.
Niranjan Hiremath, the father of Neha, has warned that his entire family will die by suicide if the investigation is misled and botched up.
