Congress rule in K'tka far better than BJP: Rahul Gandhi

Bengaluru: Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said there was “no contest” between his party’s government in Karnataka and the previous BJP regime in the southern state as regards corruption, adding that the saffron party’s rule “wins hands down”.

Gandhi took to Twitter to draw a comparison between the Congress government in Karnataka and the previous BJP regime (2008-13) in the state, with the help of figures to show that his party’s rule was better on all counts.

“In Karnataka, when it comes to corruption, it’s a “No Contest” as this graphic shows. The BJP wins hands down! (sic),” he tweeted, along with two sets of graphics.

The graphics claimed that the Congress was the “top job creator” in the country, the Anna Bhagya scheme of the party’s government in Karnataka was feeding four crore people, the Ramthal Marol, Asia’s largest drip irrigation project, and the world’s largest solar power park were built by the party and that it had also waived the loans of 22 lakh farmers, amounting to Rs 8,165 crore, in the southern state.

On the other hand, the graphics pointed out that during the BJP rule in Karnataka, chief minister BS Yeddyurappa was jailed in connection with the denotification scam, India’s “largest political poaching scandal” — “Operation Kamala” — was unearthed during the saffron party’s rule, it had pioneered “cashless corruption” by taking bribes in cheques, former state minister Krishnaiah Setty was jailed in a land grab case, while the Reddy brothers were jailed in a Rs 35,000-crore mining scam.

“Who works better? Congress government of 2013-18 or BJP government of 2008-13. Numbers speak for themselves. Choose right. Vote Congress,” the graphics said.

The second set of graphics claimed that while the Congress government, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had created 53 lakh jobs in Karnataka, only 26.64 lakh jobs were created during the BJP regime.

It also claimed that while the Congress had given loans worth Rs 12,000 crore to farmers and completed 42.3 kms of “Namma Metro”, the BJP had sanctioned farm loans worth Rs 6,560 crore and completed only 6.7 kms of the metro works.

It also claimed that the Congress had built 15.5 lakh houses as against the 11.3 lakh during the BJP regime and the budget outlay of the current government was Rs 2,09,181 crore in 2018, while in 2013, it was Rs 1,17,005 crore under the BJP.

It also claimed that the Congress’s achievements were more than those of the BJP as regards creation of MBBS seats, road construction, grant of scholarships to OBCs and building toilets.

The 224-member Karnataka Assembly goes to the polls on May 12 and the results will be declared on May 15.

The Congress is seeking to retain power in the southern state, while the BJP’s aim is to unseat the Congress in Karnataka.