No 'Jumlas' please!, Siddaramaiah fires 'welcome' salvo at PM Modi ahead of Karnataka visit

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday fired ‘welcome’ salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit the poll-bound state to launch his party BJP’s election campaign.

In a series of tweets, Siddaramaiah welcomed Modi to his state and launched a scathing attack, asking him to end “hypocrisy” on corruption and address the concerns of Kannadigas.

“Dear Narendra Modi, Heard you are visiting Namma Karnataka tomorrow. We welcome you to our state. While you are here, we Kannadigas would like you to address the following concerns,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.

In his second tweet, the Karnataka CM sharpened his attack and asked Modi to stop lecturing the Congress on corruption and tell the people if he would be joined by “jailbird” G Janardhan Reddy during his rallies.

“Would G Janardhan Reddy be joining your rallies here? You have given his family & friends 8 tickets, hoping it will help BJP in 10-15 seats.  And then, you lecture us on corruption. Please end this hypocrisy. Kannadigas aren’t wearing Kamala on their ears,” Siddaramaiah said.

BJP Protects Rapists?

Siddaramaiah went full throttle as he tweeted further and accused the BJP of protecting “rapists”.

"In Karnataka, you give tickets to rape accused & MLAs who watched porn in Assembly. In UP, CM Adityanath protects a BJP MLA who raped a 16 Yr old girl. In J&K, your MLAs defend rapists of a child. And then your party makes bombastic Ads to politicise rape in Karnataka?” the CM said.

Is Yeddyurappa still BJP’s CM face?

Siddaramaiah launched an all-out attack on Modi and asked why he was shying away from sharing stage with “scam tainted” BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa.

“You first make scam tainted @BSYBJP your party’s CM face in Karnataka. Then media reports that you don’t want to be seen sharing the stage with him at rallies!  Karnataka wants to know if Yeddyurappa is still your CM candidate?”

Modi's promises mere 'jumlas'?

Siddaramaiah took on the Prime Minister for making election “Jumlas” and not providing jobs to youth.

“First, you promised 15L to ppl, then Shah called it an election Jumla. You promised jobs, but then advised youth to sell pakodas. You said demonetisation would end black money, but it only brought misery to common people. And then you come here and call real development a lollipop?” he added.

Modi will kickstart the BJP campaign for the forthcoming Karnataka Assembly election 2018 with three back-to-back rallies on Tuesday. The Prime Minister would switch to the “election mode” and address at least 15 rallies in southern part of the state over the next five days.