Karnataka Congress leaders have rallied in defense of their party's electoral guarantees, pushing back against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent attacks. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah criticised Modi urging him to examine the "disastrous" legacy of the BJP in Karnataka before casting aspersions on the Congress party.
This exchange intensified following Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks on poll guarantees during a party event. Siddaramaiah, in a pointed message on X (formerly Twitter), asserted, ""Mr. @narendramodi, before pointing fingers at Congress, take a hard look at @BJP4Karnataka's disastrous legacy in Karnataka! We are fulfilling every promise we made to our people all 5 guarantees implemented with a budget over Rs 52,000 crore, and an additional Rs 52,903 crore in capital outlay to build Karnataka's future."
He accused the BJP of leaving the state mired in "40 per cent commission corruption," depleting resources that could have improved lives.
Minister Priyank Kharge supported Siddaramaiah's stance, critiquing Modi's understanding of Karnataka's economic progress. He remarked, "I think the prime minister is ill-informed and doesn't take briefing from the finance minister and takes briefings from his social media team. I think he has forgotten that the National Statistical Estimates had projected Karnataka's growth at 4 per cent which was revised to 13.1 per cent. This was revised under the PM's watch. Despite giving guarantees and going through a severe drought, we've managed to grow exponentially."
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also weighed in, labeling Modi's comments as a "political tweet and not a development tweet."
The war of words escalated when Kharge cautioned Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to remain within financial constraints while making promises. He advised against overcommitting, warning that such actions could lead to bankruptcy and result in a negative legacy for future generations.
"Don't go for saying five, six, 10 or twenty guarantees. Give guarantees according to your state budget. If you give guarantees beyond your budget, you will become bankrupt. You will not even get soil to fill the road," Kharge said.
In response to Kharge's statements, PM Modi seised the opportunity to critique the Congress party, stated, "The Congress is realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible. Campaign after campaign they promise things to the people which they also know that they will never be able to deliver. Now, they stand badly exposed in front of the people."
