HUBBALLI: In what was her first election rally in four years, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday packed many a punch in her address in Hubballi.
Right from launching a scathing attack against the BJP and its national president JP Nadda, to reminding the audience about Karnataka's long connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family, Sonia's calibrated speech was as much a study in aggression as it was an attempt to connect with the electorate through an emotional appeal.
In a direct attack on Nadda, alleging that he had threatened people to vote for the BJP, Sonia said: "We have to free Karnataka of commission and corruption."
Addressing a rally in Hubballi, about 450 km from Bengaluru, she took a swipe at the "PM Modi's blessing" remark by Nadda at a recent rally. "The BJP is threatening people and saying if it doesn't win, people in the state will not receive the PM's blessings."
The Rae Bareily MP said it is politicians who need the blessings of the people and not the other way around.
Nadda had recently exhorted Karnataka voters to make sure his party was elected to power, so that they didn't lose the "blessings" of PM Modi.
"I would like to tell the BJP that the people of Karnataka have placed their trust in their hard work rather than relying on anyone's 'blessings'," Sonia said to a loud cheer.
Sonia has not campaigned in any state election in the recent past. She had held her last election rally during the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in her parliamentary constituency, and had delivered her last public speech at the Bharat Bachao rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on December 14, 2019.
Campaigning for Jagadish Shettar, a prominent Lingayat face who dumped the BJP for the Congress over denial of ticket by the former, Sonia slammed the incumbent BJP government in Karnataka over various issues such as 40% commission, the controversy over Amul's proposed entry into the state and urged voters to vote for the Congress. "The country and state can't progress without ending the BJP's dark rule. It's everyone's responsibility to strengthen our voice against the BJP's rule," she said.
Alleging that BJP was trying to merge Nandini with Amul, she assured that Congress won't let that happen.
Recalling the 4,000-km Bharat Jodo Yatra led by her son and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Sonia said the yatra was against those whose job is to spread hatred. "Such people can never bring any development to Karnataka," she added.
Striking a chord with Lingayat and Vokkaliga voters, who are dominant in North Karnataka, Sonia invoked 12th-century social reformer Basavanna, saying that he taught us to treat everyone equally and dared the BJP not to go against his principles. "The BJP has also insulted the feelings of poet Kuvempu," she alleged.
Stating that Karnataka has a long connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family, Sonia reminded the audience that her mother-in-law, former PM Indira Gandhi, had come to Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka to fight the Lok Sabha polls when the Janata Party government was in power. She also recalled that she had fought her first Lok Sabha election from Ballari in Karnataka. "Now we have come back to you again," she said.
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