Bommai hits back at Congress, says party looted 85% in all projects when in power

YEMKANMARDI: Even as Congress continues to attack the BJP government over 40% commission, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has retorted with a strong counter.

Speaking after the 'Jayavahini' roadshow in Yemkanmardi of Belagavi district on Wednesday, Bommai took a dig at the Congress party by stating that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had said that out of the Rs 100 he sent from Delhi, only Rs 15 reached the villages.

"Congress has always taken 85 percent. I am not saying this. But their Prime Minister had said it himself. If somebody has looted 85 percent in the country in all projects, it is Congress," he said.

Bommai went on to claim that corruption was synonymous with Congress, and that it was rampant in all departments during the Congress tenure between 2013-18.

Bommai also talked about the need for a double engine government in Karnataka, which Congress questions. He stated that only those who do not want the progress of Karnataka say there is no need for a double engine and those who want development would support the double engine government in the state.

He claimed that the Congress party was anxious about the upcoming election in Karnataka, as every state where the election was held under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi resulted in a Congress-mukt state. He mentioned Gujarat, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand as examples.

Bommai also noted that though Congress questioned the need of the Prime Minister and Home Minister campaigning in the state, their leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge, were campaigning in Karnataka.

He said that BJP welcomed Rahul Gandhi's visits, as BJP had won wherever he had campaigned during the 2018 election.

To bolster the need for a double engine government, Bommai presented a list of developmental works and infrastructure improvements in the state.