Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday criticised the ruling Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress coalition in Karnataka and called state government weak. Citing the Indian Air Force strikes on Balakot in Pakistan in February, Modi added that these parties did not care about national security.
“Karnataka CM [HD Kumaraswamy] categorically stated that the Balakot attack should not be raked up as it adversely impacts their vote bank,” Modi claimed at a rally in Bagalkot in North Karnataka. “The vote bank of Congress and JD(S) is in Bagalkot or in Balakot?” The Bagalkot Lok Sabha constituency will go to the polls on April 23, in the third phase of elections.
“The Congress isn’t even ready to accept the surgical and air strikes. The truth is that the Congress and JD(S) don’t think about the nation but only about their vote bank,” Modi added, according to the Hindustan Times.
Modi also criticised the Opposition parties for raising doubts about the air strikes. “I remember that when air strike was conducted Pakistan was sleeping. Pakistan told the whole world that there was a strike by India and they started crying,” Modi said. “There were some people in our country who got hurt when the attack was launched across the border. Pakistan was hurt but people here were crying.”
He added: “These people sat on Google and some even said it was an attack on Bagalkot [in Karnataka] and not Balakot [in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan].”
Modi also criticised the HD Kumaraswamy-led government and called it helpless and weak. “If you want to see a strong government, look at Delhi; if you want to see a helpless government, see Bengaluru,” Modi said at a rally, while mocking Kumaraswamy for his emotional outbursts and alleged dramatic behaviour.
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