PM Modi recalls Congress’ ‘insult’ to past CMs, says party hates Karnataka

Both Nijalingappa and Patil came from the electorally powerful Lingayat community, which forms 17 per cent of the state’s population; Kharge comes from the Dalit community.

Addressing a rally in Belagavi, where he inaugurated several projects, Modi said: “I want to remind you how the Congress hates Karnataka. The leaders of Karnataka have been insulted by the Congress; it is part of their tradition. Whenever the Congress is upset with a local leader, it begins humiliating the leader. History is witness to the humiliation of leaders such as S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil at the hands of Congress dynasts.”

Nijalingappa, Karnataka CM from 1956 to 1958 and 1962 to 1968, split from the Indira Gandhi-led Congress and remained in a separate faction. He is widely believed to have laid the foundation for gathering the dominant Lingayat community into a potent political collective. Patil was also CM twice (1968-1971 and 1989-1990) and was unceremoniously removed by Rajiv Gandhi in 1990 after suffering a stroke.

Modi said: “Once again, for the benefit of a special family in the Congress, another leader has been humiliated — a leader who has been a Parliamentarian for 50 years…Mallikarjun Kharge is someone I respect…. I was sad the other day to see Kharge-ji…in Raipur not getting an umbrella to protect him from the harsh sun. Next to him, there was someone who was getting shelter.”

“For the record,” Modi said, “Kharge is the Congress president, but the way the party treats him the whole world can understand who holds the remote control. We have to liberate the country from this system, so the people of Karnataka must be careful of parties like the Congress.”

Earlier in the day, Modi praised former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa at an event to inaugurate an airport in Shivamogga, on Yediyurappa’s 80th birthday.