The Congress on Friday again reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his “rajdharma” as he remained obsessed with electioneering in Karnataka instead of giving full attention to violence-hit Manipur.
The Congress was aghast that Modi had chosen to spend three days in Karnataka from Friday as if he wasn’t the Prime Minister and his primary responsibility was to fetch votes for the BJP. This is not the first time Modi’s unusual involvement in state elections has attracted the Opposition’s criticism as no other Prime Minister has spent so much time on election campaigns.
While Rahul Gandhi requested the Prime Minister to focus on the restoration of peace in Manipur, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted: “Manipur is burning. The BJP has created fissures among communities and destroyed the peace of a beautiful state. The BJP’s politics of hate, division and its greed for power is responsible for this mess. We appeal to people from all sides to exercise restraint and give peace a chance.”
The Congress fielded several senior leaders to highlight the oddity of the Prime Minister’s priorities. The party’s social media head, Supriya Shrinate, said: “Modiji, it is necessary to remind you of your rajdharma. You are the elected Prime Minister, not only a BJP pracharak (campaigner). Half of Manipur is under curfew; violence and arson have engulfed the state. And you have left it to the governor to issue a shoot-at-sight order.”
Shrinate added: “Does it not matter to you and your home minister Amit Shah if Manipur is burnt to ashes? No morality left? The home minister goes to Karnataka and says there will be riots if the Congress comes to power. Who is in power in Manipur? He has failed as home minister. Sometimes, there is firing between Assam and Meghalaya, sometimes a clash between Karnataka and Maharashtra. Does Shah have any moral right to continue in office?”
Claiming that violence in Manipur was one of the most painful experiences of post-Independent India, Congress Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala said: “The constitutional machinery has broken down in Manipur but the Prime Minister and the home minister do not care. What matters to them is only votes; a few more votes for the BJP is more important for them than the restoration of peace in a state. Shah should be sacked. The people of Karnataka won’t forgive the messengers of divisiveness.”
Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, who was also the minister of state for home, took strong objection to Modi’s continued presence in Karnataka, saying: “He is not only here for three days but will also do a nine-hour roadshow, putting the common people to great inconvenience. Even patients won’t be able to go to hospitals. The Prime Minister has the nation’s responsibility and Manipur is burning. Modi should have continuously monitored the Manipur situation. Are their local leaders not good enough to carry out the election campaign?”
Modi was, however, unfazed by the criticism as he is leading the BJP’s campaign with his public meetings and roadshows in a desperate bid to retain power. The Prime Minister didn’t refer to Manipur in his speeches on Friday even as he dwelt on the new terror plot as manifested in the film The Kerala Story and the proposed ban on the Bajrang Dal. He went so far as to talk about the evacuation of Indians from Sudan but consciously avoided Manipur even as he relied on the “double-engine sarkar” slogan to woo the voters of Karnataka.
He said: “The Congress manifesto is full of false promises. It is a bundle of tala-bandi and appeasement. All they have is stop this, remove that, withdraw this, ban that. Now the Congress has a problem with my saying Jai Bajrangbali.” The Congress campaigners, on the other hand, kept their focus on the party’s five guarantees and the 40 per cent commission charge, accusing the Prime Minister of spreading misinformation about its welfare agenda.
