"Why Omnipresent PM Couldn't See BJP Loot In Karnataka": Priyanka Gandhi

In a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday wondered why the "omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient" Narendra Modi could not see the "loot" in Karnataka carried out by the "40 per cent commission government of the BJP".

Addressing a public rally in Vijayapura district, she sought to know why the 'vikas purush' (development man) Narendra Modi still says that he has a "dream" of developing Karnataka and presenting it to the nation as the "development model".

"The whole world calls the Prime Minister 'omnipotent', 'supreme', 'greatest of all' and 'vikas purush'," the Congress leader said in a sarcastic tone, asking "You (Modi) are supreme, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Why couldn't you fulfill your dream? When your own government was plundering people by becoming '40 per cent commission government' what were you doing?” PM Modi had shut his eyes to the "loot and plunder" in Karnataka because he was busy in "dreaming", she said in her attack on the PM.

"You were busy dreaming big, so you allowed the loot and theft to happen. You didn't stop anyone. How is this? Why is your government called '40 per cent commission sarkara'?" Ms Vadra asked.

She alleged that contractors were dying by suicide and had written to the "omniscient" PM about the 40 per cent commission being charged for public works but no reply came through.

She also accused the Prime Minister of being silent on the issue of farmer suicides.

Ms Vadra said due to the "loot", governance and employment generation issues were forgotten and when the elections came, all unrelated issues were being raised.

“They (BJP) looted Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 3.5 years in Karnataka. With this money 100 AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) hospitals, 2,250 km long six-lane expressway, 187 ESI Hospitals and 30,000 smart classrooms could have been built," she pointed out.

Development, hospitals, schools, road construction, employment, giving relief to women from price rise and promoting interest of farmers should be the issues, which have taken a backseat, Ms Vadra said, and alleged that in Bengaluru 35 people had lost their lives due to accidents caused by potholes.

Today, the BJP leaders are losing face, due to which they raise issues that are not related to the people and their problems, the Congress leader said.

She also claimed that many companies had moved out of Karnataka in the past three-and-a-half years, and shifted to Chennai, Hyderabad and other places because of the "loot impacting the infrastructure".

Raising the issue of Karnataka Milk Federation's renowned brand Nandini, Ms Vadra charged that the BJP government wanted to "finish" it off to promote Gujarat-based Amul.

Youths are unemployed as 2.5 lakh posts were lying vacant, Ms Vadra said adding that if the Congress government came to power, it would fill up the vacancies in a year.

According to Ms Vadra, jobs had shrunk in the state because the BJP government at the Centre sold many large Public Sector Units (PSUs) and broke the backbone of small businesses.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)