JD(S) is BJP’s ‘B’ team, says Rahul
BENGALURU: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for the first time attacked the Janata Dal (Secular) in the latter’s stronghold Hassan, calling it the ‘B team of the Bharatiya Janata Party”. “The JD(S).. have decided that no matter what happens, they will make sure the BJP wins in the state elections,” he said.
Gandhi was speaking at a rally on the second day of his two-day campaign tour of the coastal and interior districts of Karnataka. This is the third leg of his Janashirvada Yatra in the state, which is slated to go to the polls sometime in May.
The attack is significant as this is the first time during his tours of the state that Gandhi had taken on the regional party.
Reacting to the statement, former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said Gandhi had no moral right to attack the party. “If we were the ‘B’ team of the BJP, why were Congress leaders standing outside our house begging us to form a coalition in the Bengaluru corporation?” he asked.
Kumaraswamy said it’s clear that the Congress had realised that it would lose. “It is clear that Gandhi is already preparing the ground for his party’s loss in the upcoming elections,” he added.
At at a rally in Chikmagalur, Gandhi took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he spread falsehoods wherever he went,
› a 14yearold knows the meaning of Dharma, but the PM does not... when the country looks to its prime minister, it wants to hear the truth and not speeches of hatred. They want to hear about love and brotherhood RAHUL GANDHI, Cong president
and predicted BJP’s loss in next year’s general elections.
He visited the Sringeri Sharadamba temple and the seer of the local mutt (monastery), where he interacted with the students.
“I asked them what they understood by Dharma, and they told me it meant truth,” Gandhi said. “...a 14-year-old knows the meaning of Dharma, but the PM does not... when the country looks to its prime minister, it wants to hear the truth and not speeches of hatred. They want to hear about love and brotherhood, they know that without truth this country cannot progress.”
State BJP leader S Suresh Kumar responded by saying it was unfortunate that Gandhi did not know about the history of his own party. “Since 1947, it has been their (Congress’s) motto to spread falsehoods,” he alleged.