Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally at Nehru Maidan in Mangaluru
Highlights
- Will work for poor just as Indira Gandhi had done: Rahul Gandhi
- The Congress president was campaigning in Chikmagalur
- Chikmagalur had voted Indira Gandhi back to power 40 years ago
In Chikmagalur that had voted Indira Gandhi back to power 40 years ago, grandson Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling BJP of divisive politics and urged Karnataka to stand by the Siddaramaiah government. He promised that the Congress wouldn't let them down and would work for the poor and downtrodden just as Indira Gandhi had done.
"I see it like Indira Gandhi," he reassured them.
"I also think that it is most important to work for improving the lives of the weak, poor, farmers and labourers," said Mr Gandhi, 47, who reminded his audience at more than one public meeting how it was Karnataka that had stood by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when her chips were down in 1978.
Her victory in the Chikmagalur election is seen as the reversal of her party's electoral fortunes.
At last week's plenary session, Sonia Gandhi had also remembered the role that her mother-in-law's win from the Karnataka district best known for its coffee, pepper and scenic beauty. Sonia Gandhi had also hoped that a victory in the Karnataka assembly elections would, like Indira's Chikmagalur win, mark the revival of the party's fortunes.
Rahul Gandhi meeting supporters at Mulki in Mangaluru
The Congress president, who is on a two-day visit to south coastal Karnataka and Malnad regions, underlined this sentiment, telling the people of Karnataka that they had helped Indira Gandhi in her "most difficult time".
This is Mr Gandhi's third visit to the state since February that is expected to go to polls in May.
"I want to tell Congress workers and leaders who have stood behind us that the Congress will win the next Karnataka election with a bang. This I am telling because of the experience I had traversing parts of Karnataka," he said, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
Mr Gandhi pitched the Congress as a sharp contrast to the BJP which, he said, would go to any length to grab power and counted Meghalaya, Goa and Manipur as some of the states where it had bought lawmakers to come to power.
Rahul Gandhi at Sharadamba Temple, Sringeri Mutt, during his visit to Chikmagalur on Wednesday
He said PM Modi talked about corruption while sharing stage with party members who were jailed on graft charges. PM Modi doesn't see corruption in the sudden rise in turnover of a company owned by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah's son Jay Shah, he said, according to PTI.
The Prime Minister was also not addressing corruption cases of state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, said Mr Gandhi in his 30-minute address delivered in Hindi and translated into Kannada by a party leader.
"People do not want to listen to lies or hate speeches. They want to listen to truth and issues that concern them... Four years of Modi's rule has gone by and he has only one year left. He is going to lose the next (Lok Sabha) elections in 2019 with this kind of rule," the Congress president said.