Hubballi: In maiden public rally in poll-bound Karnataka in Hubballi on May 6, 2023, former Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi lashed out at the BJP government in the State and charged that looting of the public money has become its business. Though the people of the State did not give a mandate to the BJP, the saffron party formed the government by robbing the legislators. Later, this 40 per cent commission government is further looting the public, she alleged.

Congress leader Smt. Sonia Gandhi further said that Karnataka and the rest of the country cannot make progress without getting rid of the ruling party’s “loot, lies, ego and hatred”. She also said that the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ a few months ago was against those spreading hatred. “This was the reason that lakhs of people joined Rahul Gandhi’s 4,000 km march”. The former Congress President said: “It is everyone’s responsibility to strengthen our voice against this (BJP) government’s ‘dark rule’.”

She was accompanied on the stage by Congress President Shri M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Shri Rahul Gandhi and former Karnataka Chief Minister Shri Jagadish Shettar who recently quit BJP and joined the Party. The Congress Party has fielded Shri Shettar, a six-time MLA, from Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, from where he had won the previous Assembly polls in 2018. Smt. Gandhi said that people have seen how rattled the BJP was in this election due to which it has resorted to all ‘Kinds of Repression’.

“Don’t you feel that dacoity has become the business of those in power? You had not given them power in 2018 but they robbed the government and captured it. Then, their 40 per cent commission government got busy in looting,” she charged. Accusing BJP leaders of being ‘Egoistic’, she said that they neither answer any questions nor any letter addressed to them. Smt. Sonia Gandhi made an indirect reference to the letter written by the contractors’ association in Karnataka to the Prime Minister about 40 per cent commission being charged from them for public works in the state.

“They (BJP leaders) are not bothered about accountability. They think that they have pocketed all the constitutional institutions. I want to ask you whether you have ever seen such arbitrariness. Does democracy function like this? No,” Smt. Gandhi said.

The situation today is such that the BJP leaders openly issue threats that if their party does not win the Karnataka election, then the state will not get the “Blessings” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said.

Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in an election rally that there will be riots in Karnataka if Congress comes to power in the state, Smt. Sonia Gandhi said, “They say that if the BJP loses, then there will be riots here. On your behalf, I want to tell them not to treat the people of Karnataka as powerless and helpless.”

The people of the state do not depend on anyone’s blessings but rely on their hard work and firm decisions, she emphasized. “The people of Karnataka are not cowardly and greedy so that you can induce them. The people of Karnataka will tell you on May 10 what they are made of,” she said.

Former Congress President also raised the issue of the alleged attempt of merging Karnataka Milk Federation’s ‘Nandini’ brand with Gujarat-based ‘Amul’. “The time has come now to tell them (BJP) that they will not succeed here in their conspiracy to loot a good institution like ‘Nandini’ (Karnataka Milk Federation’s cooperative dairy brand), ignoring the interests of lakhs of farmers and milk producers,” she said.

Invoking the name of 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara, she said, ‘BhagwanBasavanna’ always favoured equal opportunities to everyone without any discrimination. Smt. Sonia Gandhi said that the BJP has been insulting the great Kannada poet Kuvempu and cautioned them against “playing with the history of India and the hundreds of years old tradition of social justice”. She urged the people to vote for Congress with a majority. “Who do you believe can provide a Karnataka that is free of loot and on the path of development? Who can continue the tradition of harmony and provide social justice? The answer is Congress,” she said.