PM Modi highlights Karnataka bypoll results to urge voters in Jharkhand to elect a ‘stable BJP government’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Karnataka bypoll results that saw the BJP win 12 out of 15 Assembly seats, were a punishment for the Congress and its ally, the Janata Dal(S), for “stealing the mandate”.

Addressing poll rallies in Jharkhand, Mr. Modi called on the people of the State to elect a “stable BJP government with an absolute majority.”

“The Congress and its allies subverted the mandate in Karnataka, stabbed it in the back. The Congress stole the mandate through the back door, and now people have punished it and taught it a lesson,” Mr. Modi said at a rally in Barhi.

‘Three messages’

In Bokaro, Mr. Modi called the Karnataka bypolls “extraordinary”, one which decided whether the BJP government would stay or go.

“There are three messages for Jharkhand and other States in the bypoll outcome. The first is that people want a stable government. Second, people feel insulted by subversion of their mandate and teach those guilty a lesson. Third, they trust only the BJP to provide a government that can deliver,” he said.

“Public anger over betrayal of mandate exploded today. It is a victory of public mandate, a victory for democracy,” the Prime Minister added.

Mr. Modi, who devoted a large part of his speeches in both Barhi and Bokaro to the Karnataka bypoll outcome, said another reason for the Congress-JD(S) defeat was that its government never cared for the people’s welfare.

He alleged that the two disparate parties had come together and formed the government for self-interest.

“They spent whole one year squabbling. Congress held the chief minister at gun-point and the poor Chief Minister would go to people crying. They (Congress) made the condition of the CM of Karnataka worse than somebody who has been kidnapped,” Mr. Modi said.

‘Defeat Alliance’

Claiming that the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance in Jharkhand would plunge the State into “instability and uncertainty” if voted to power, he asked the electorate to defeat “each and every” candidate of the Opposition coalition.

He also accused the successive Congress and JMM governments of patronising “loot of Jharkhand’s resources” and claimed that the BJP dispensations at the Centre and in the State made an honest effort for people’s welfare.

Noting that peace, political stability and infrastructure were key to development and employment creation, the Prime Minister said the Congress-JMM coalition governments disregarded these important issues.

He said the State’s BJP dispensation had “almost rooted out” Naxalism, which was an important hindrance to development.