Punish abuse culture of Congress by chanting Jai Bajrangbali while casting vote: PM Modi in Karnataka

Karnataka Elections 2023: Accusing Congress of 'abuse culture', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to punish those indulging in abuse, while casting their vote in polling booths on May 10. He said Congress and its leaders hate and abuse him because he has crashed their 'corrupt system'.

"In this election, Congress is seeking votes in the name of its leader who is retiring...The other way in which they are seeking votes is by abusing Modi, whoever feels like is abusing," Modi said. Addressing a public meeting here in Uttara Kannada district, he said: "Will anyone in Karnataka accept this abuse culture? Will anyone like abusing someone? Does anyone like even a small man being abused? Will Karnataka forgive those abusing?"

"What will you (people) do this time? Will you punish them? Will you punish the abusers?... When you press the button in the polling booth, punish by saying 'Jai Bajrangbali'...," he added. Noting that BJP's only aim is to make Karnataka the number one state in the country, and the party has a roadmap for it and is ready to put in efforts, the Prime Minister said the Congress has lost credibility because of its decades of 'misrule'.

"False allegation and false guarantees is Congress' only support," he said, adding that Congress, which ruled the country for decades, concentrated on its own development, instead of the country, and had prepared a system to ensure that its leaders' treasury was filled with 'black earnings'.

Accusing Congress of 'fake name scam' with fake names in the government beneficiaries list during its rule, Modi said: "The fake names were more than Karnataka's population, and in their name money was spent, which used to go into the account of Congress' corrupt people's black treasury."

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Congress had ensured that about 10 crore fake names are in government documents from across the country, he alleged and said, "It was names of people who were not born and did not exist...Where did the money sent to these names go? The money was going into the pockets of Congress' corrupt leaders top to bottom."

"In the last nine years, I have busted Congress' fake name scam... Our government ensured the poor get their rights, by removing fake names. Because of our measures, we have saved Rs 2.75 lakh crore from going into wrong hands," he added. Voting will take place in Karnataka on May 10 and the results are out on May 13.