‘HD Kumaraswamy has become a punching bag’: PM Modi slams Karnataka govt

Hubballi, Feb 11: Terming the 8-month-old JD-S-Congress coalition government in Karnataka a 'majboor sarkar', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dubbed its Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy a "punching bag" of everyone in the state.

"Kumaraswamy has become a punching bag of everyone in the state, especially the Congress leaders, who have been threatening to unseat him from day one and challenging him daily," Modi said at a massive BJP rally in Hubbali, about 400 km from Bengaluru.

Wondering who was in charge of government in the state in view of the infighting between the two coalition partners, the Prime Minister said he never saw a chief minister like Kumaraswamy (of Janata Dal-Secular) being so helpless and made to cry in public by "arrogant" Congress leaders.

"The opposition parties want to thrust a similar 'majboor sarkar' at the Centre after the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. It is for the people like you to decide whether you want such a fledgling government or strong (mazboot) government, which the BJP is providing since 2014," Modi told the gathering of about 1 lakh in the KLE Institution ground on the outskirts of the city.

The Prime Minister also accused the coalition government of betraying the farmers of the state by promising to waive their crop loans but not able to do even after seven months.

"Though the Chief Minister promised to waive crop loans of 43 lakh farmers from across the state, only 60,000 of them have benefitted so far. The Congress and JD-S are playing with the lives of poor for vote banks. Even one-third of them did not benefit while their middlemen prospered," Modi alleged.

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, BJP's state unit leaders BS Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar, Prahlad Joshi and Muralidhar Rai were also present on the occasion.