New Delhi
Karnataka Assembly elections are around the corner and all political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters. While PM Narendra Modi is leading the BJP campaign, Rahul Gandhi is leading the Congress’ crusade from the front. Today, the Congress president visited Kolar, where he held a road show against skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel. The leader was joined by a huge crowd during the road show. What drew the attention during his road show was the use of a bullock cart and a bicycle by him. Rahul, who is an SPG protectee, was seen speaking to the crowd from a bullock cart. He was later seen riding a bicycle to lodge his protest against rising fuel prices.
Rahul said that the government has failed to pass on benefits of low crude oil prices in the international market to people of India. He also shared a video tweet blasting the government. He claimed that BJP government has collected Rs 10 lakh crore in taxes on petrol, diesel and LPG since 2014.
“Yet, NO relief in prices for our citizens. This video shows the truth about fuel prices under PM Modi,” his video tweet reads.
Later speaking to reporters in Bengaluru Rural, Rahul said that PM Modi only believes in speaking and not delivering. He drew an analogy between the PM’s style of functioning and modes in a mobile phone, saying, “There are 3 modes in a mobile phone, work mode, speaker mode and airplane mode. Modi Ji only uses speaker mode & airplane mode, he never uses work mode.”
Prices of petrol and diesel have soared drastically in recent time. While petrol prices have zoomed to a 55-month high in April in Delhi, diesel soared to a new all-time high. In Delhi, petrol and diesel prices continue to be above Rs 74 and Rs 65, respectively. The recent rise in fuel prices have invited severe flak for the government and thus providing ammunition to the opposition parties to counter the government’s tall claims.
Addressing media in Bengaluru today, former prime minister Manmohan Singh also slammed the government over its failure to check rising fuel prices. He said high petrol prices have made the situation worse and mismanagement of the government evident.
At a time when the BJP has been targeting the Congress over issues of corruption and vote-bank politics, the new line toed by Congress to launch an attack on the government will likely make it tough for the BJP to answer. The Congress is desperate to retain power in the state because it is well aware of the fact that outcome of Karnataka elections will set the agenda for upcoming assembly elections in three BJP-ruled states (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) and also for 2019 polls.
Polling across 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka will be held on May 12 and counting will take place on May 15.
