Terming it time for the Congress' exit from Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the people to throw the "corrupt and dynastic" party out of power in the upcoming assembly elections."I appeal to the people of Karnataka to throw the Congress government, as countdown for packing it off from the state has begun," said Modi at a BJP rally at the sprawling Palace Grounds here.Launching a no-holds-barred attack on the ruling party in his hour-long speech in Hindi, Modi said the country did not any more need its "ruinous culture"."India does not need Congress culture anymore as it has ruined the nation. If corruption has to end, the state has to be made Congress-free," he said.Accusing the Siddaramaiah government in the state of being "corrupt", the Prime Minister said that it has not been able to efficiently utilise the funds the Centre had released during the last four years, while its parent party was opposing the path of development that the BJP was aiming for the nation."We have given Karnataka government Rs 2 lakh crore of funds, which is more than 180 per cent of what the state got from the previous UPA government, which was only Rs 73,000 crore," said Modi.
The Central government has also sanctioned 3.36 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, but the state government could only construct 38,000 so far, he said.The Congress government has made way for builders' mafia, sand mafia and other corrupt ways, he said.Listing other beneficial steps for the state by his government, he said that nearly 8.5 lakh women from the state were given LPG connections through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and 1.16 crore bank accounts were opened for the poor and lower middle-class citizens through Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.Modi also noted that his government had released Rs 247 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission to Karnataka, out of which Rs 70 crore have still not been utilised."If (BJP state unit president) B.S. Yeddyurappa, the son of a farmer, becomes the Chief Minister, the projects for farmers will work at their best because he has their best interests at heart," he said.The BJP could take Karnataka to "new heights" with a focus on improving the lives of farmers in the state and creating better infrastructure, he said."There are still 7 lakh homes in Karnataka which are in the dark with no access to electricity even years after independence.
Electricity will brighten their lives," Modi said. The Union Budget's announcement on suburban train network for Bengaluru could benefit nearly 15 lakh people, he added.Modi visited the city to address the BJP rally that marks the culmination of the party's 90-day rally across the state's districts.The "Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivartana Yatra", which traversed all the 224 assembly constituencies, was flagged off from here on November 2 last year by party's national President Amit Shah.Over a lakh people attended the rally.Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Piyush Goyal who are in-charge of the BJP poll campaign in Karnataka, Ananth Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Ananthkumar Hegde who hail from the state, were also part of the event.Other party leaders from the state like former External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar were also present.