The BJP struck back at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for calling the Central government “neech” over the Food Corporation of India's (FCI) decision to stop open sale of food grains. Alleging that the Narendra Modi government did so in order to deny Karnataka access to cheap rice for its Anna Bhagya Scheme, one of the Congress's poll promises, Siddaramaiah said: "We never asked for the rice to be provided free of cost. We agreed to give Rs 36 (per kg), and they agreed to supply it. Later, they denied. How neech can they be? They are anti-poor. They have no humanity. The Central government told the FCI, and the FCI said no.” Union minister Pralhad Joshi accused Siddaramaiah and the Congress of “trying to call PM Modi 'neech'”. He told ANI: “Since PM Modi comes from a poor background, the Congress party is jealous of the chair of PM Modi. They think this belongs to the Gandhi family.” The BJP posted on social media that Siddaramaiah's remarks showed his “intellectual bankruptcy”. “His choice of words 'neech' and 'inhuman', to attack Prime Minister Sri @narendramodi, actually mirrors Siddaramaiahji's state of mind.” The choice of words by Siddaramaiah could get pulled into the row sparked by DMK leader and Congress ally Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatan Dharma. While the BJP alleged that it showed the Opposition INDIA alliance was “anti-Hindu”, the DMK has said it was only attacking the casteism within the religion. Siddaramaiah's remarks might weaken INDIA's anti-caste position on the issue. Answering a question on Siddaramaiah's remarks at an AICC press conference in Delhi, Congress media department head Pawan Khera said: “Pradhan Mantri aisa chui-mui Pradhan Mantri. ki unki party ko koi kuch keh de, toh apmaan ho gaya (We have such a touch-me-not PM, that someone says something about his party, and it is an insult). Why is our Prime Minister so delicate? What has happened? Why is he hassled?. Tell the Prime Minister to be strong.” Siddaramaiah was speaking at an event in Tumkur to mark the 10th anniversary of the 'Ksheera Bhagya' scheme to provide milk supplies to children in schools. In his speech in Kannada, he said that while the FCI move coming in June – soon after the Congress had won in Karnataka – had tied its hands, forcing it to give beneficiaries cash in place of rice, his government was now in a position to procure the required rice. As the crowd shouted in response that they wanted rice too, Siddaramaiah said: "We will give 10 kg of rice so that people can eat three meals a day. Nobody should be hungry.” He went on to attack the Modi government, saying it had used the FCI as a political tool. "The Food Corporation of India replied to us saying there were stocks of rice and that they were willing to supply it. We believed it. The Central government, however, made them change their decision. Are the BJP pro-poor? They are not," Siddaramaiah said, going on to say: “How neech (low) can they be?” At a Congress meeting last month, the Karnataka CM had called the FCI order "a blessing in disguise", claiming it had saved the state transportation, storage and pilferage costs, as well as checked corruption. He added that even as the Centre had stopped its sale, the rice in stock with the FCI had become “rotten with worms”. "They went to auction the rice publicly, but nobody came forward to procure it,” Siddaramaiah said. Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh had also questioned the FCI move, saying that while the corporation had more than enough stocks to meet Karnataka’s and the country’s needs, “the Modi government is trying its very best to close every single avenue for the Karnataka government to fulfil its guarantee to the people”. The Food Ministry had cited inflationary trends to stop the sale of rice from FCI stocks. On Thursday, Union minister Joshi said: “The whole country is facing a drought situation. We have fewer stocks of rice. That's why we also banned the export of rice. The price of rice is increasing. Many BJP-governed states are also demanding rice, but we do not have it right now. The 'neech' word used by the Congress is an example of their 'ghamand (arrogance)'." The BJP said the Congress government was making personal attacks “to hide its failures in the implementation of schemes it announced without proper planning, and with the sole intent of gaining easy publicity”. In 2017, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s remark calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi “neech aadmi” had caused a huge blowback for the party. Rahul Gandhi had asked Aiyar to apologise to Modi, and the leader was later suspended from primary leadership.
