On the second day of his whirlwind election tour to Karnataka on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party’s star campaigner and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath drew a connection between the two states by mentioning the strong bond between Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman.
He spoke in Kannada at the outset to strike a rapport with the audience. He said that Sugriv, Mata Shabri and Valmiki were all connected to Karnataka and the state has since the days of Lord Ram served as a bridge between north and south.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was getting prosperous and emerging as a global power and the dream of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ was being realised.
He also lashed out at Janata Dal (Secular), Congress and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and said that the way Kharge was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections, his son would also lose in the assembly elections.
Yogi Adityanath also invited people of Karnataka to visit Ayodhya in 2024 when the grand Ram temple would be inaugurated.
Seeking votes for the BJP candidate from Gangavati, Paranna Munavalli, at a public meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that for thousands of years, UP and Karnataka had been ideal forms of Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat. He invited the people of Karnataka to visit Ram temple in Ayodhya when it would be inaugurated in 2024. Recently, the Government of India has announced to run a special train from Gangavati to Ayodhya, he added.
The chief minister said that the Congress and JDS governments in Karnataka used to do politics of appeasement and were responsible for riots in Karnataka while the BJP double-engine government worked for empowerment of all sections of society without any kind of discrimination. He said that the people of Karnataka had rejected the failed engine of the Congress and reposed their trust in the double-engine government of the BJP.
Yogi Adityanath said that the BJP candidate from Raichur City, S Shivraj Patil, was a physician. “He knows the medicine for every disease. Karnataka is playing an important role in accelerating India's progress. Bangalore has developed as a global hub of information technology (IT) skills. The youth of Karnataka are playing an important role in this,” he said.
The UP chief minister said that during the era of Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman was the saviour and today, the world had Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the troubleshooter.
“Maharishi Valmiki had taken the saga of Ramayana to the masses. Ramayana recitation takes place at every temple in UP on Valmiki's birth anniversary. There are festivals in the name of Valmikiji,” Yogi said.
He appealed to the seers of Karnataka to bless the double-engine government which enshrined Lord Rama in his temple. Yogi described Karnataka as the land of equality, empowerment, national uplift and national integration.
Taking a jibe at Congress party, Yogi said that the party which questioned Lord Ram’s existence, had its own identity in question today.
Urging voters to vote for BJP candidate from Chittapur, Manikant Rathore, Yogi Adityanath said that during the novel coronavirus pandemic, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son never visited the area and was relaxing in Bengaluru. “Khargeji knows that his son is going to lose his deposit in this election. Khargeji is talking nonsense. He is making derogatory remarks on the prime minister. Disrespecting the prime minister means disrespecting the nation. Such people must not be forgiven,” he asserted.
He added: “This shows that the Congress is losing. Just as BJP candidate Dr Umesh Yadav defeated Khargeji by 1.25 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha elections, similarly BJP’s young candidate will defeat his son in the assembly election. You have made us realise that Chittapur is not anyone’s inheritance,” he remarked.
The UP chief minister said that now PFI (Popular Front of India) would not be able to raise its head. He said organisations that incite hatred against India must be banned.
“You celebrate 28th April as a holy memory of the arrival of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. Dr Ambedkar was honoured by Prime Minister Modi only. His five places were developed by Prime Minister Modi as Panch Teerth,” Yogi added.
In Aland, Yogi Adityanath spoke in favour of BJP candidate Subhash Gutedar. He said that India was enslaved because of lack of unity. “The country became independent in 1947. After independence, the leadership was given to the Congress with great hopes, but the Congress toed the line of the foreign rulers who brought the country on the brink of division,” he said.
“Congress glorifies terrorists. They tried to take democracy hostage and make it their inheritance, but the master of democracy is the people. The one who will protect public interest and respect, the public will be with him,” Yogi Adityanath said.
Appealing to people to elect the BJP government for another term, Yogi said that people would be strong and secure only when the country was strong and secure. “People ask me what has happened in UP and why people have faith in me. I am nothing personally; Prime Minister Modi’s guidance and the double-engine government is amazing. Before 2017, there used to be riots every second-third day, but there has not been a single riot in the last six years (in UP). UP is now making strides in development in a peaceful environment. Development is being linked to employment. There is happiness, peace and prosperity in UP. There is no nuisance, but festivities. The way the double-engine government is working in UP, it is also working in Karnataka,” he said.
