Firing a barrage of barbs at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 6 May, labelled it a "deal party" that was being uprooted from all over the country and said no one can save it now.
Taking BJP's campaign in poll-bound Karnataka to full throttle, he also accused Congress of "distorting history" as part of a conspiracy to divide society, as he addressed four back-to-back rallies at Chitradurga, Raichur, Jamkhandi and Hubbali in north Karnataka.
Hitting back at Congress for levelling "baseless" charges against BJP's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, Modi reminded it about the National Herald case in which "the mother and son (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) are facing allegations of a scam" and are on bail.
"The party whose heads are on bail, are they questioning us?," he said, adding that Yeddyurappa had faced courts.
At Chitradurga, Modi flayed the Congress government for celebrating “jayantis of sultans” (birth anniversaries of Muslim rulers) for the sake of “vote bank politics”.
He was apparently referring to the state government's controversial decision of celebrating "Tipu Jayanti" every year on 10 November, commemorating Tipu Sultan, the legendary 18th century ruler of Mysore.
Modi accused the Congress of protecting the corrupt, adopting a divide-and-rule policy, making false promises and having no agenda other than "abusing Modi." Listing out a string of electoral defeats of the Congress, including those in Maharashtra and Tripura, he said, "From every corner of the country, the Congress has gone".
"...And in Karnataka?" he asked the crowd, which said the Congress will be ousted from power in the southern state too.
"Now, they cannot survive. No one can save Congress now. For 70 years, they have misled and befooled the people," Modi said, as he continued his campaign blitz across Karnataka where the party is heavily banking on him.
The state goes to the polls on 12 May. The counting of votes will take place on 15 May.
In Jamkhandi, Modi said it has been a year since Ram Nath Kovind, a poor mother's son brought up in a village, became President, but "Madam Sonia ji did not get time to pay a courtesy call on him."
Accusing Congress of attempting to divide Karnataka in the name of religion, language, and sects as part of its conspiracy, Modi said, "We should not allow Karnataka to get divided. We will not allow it to happen."
He was apparently referring to the government's move for a religious minority tag for Veerashaivas and Veerashaiva Lingayats, seen as an attempt to break the BJP's traditional Lingayat vote base.
He said the Karnataka elections were a contest between the Congress' "misdeeds and people's aspirations".
On the one side is BJP with the mantra of ‘sab ka saath sab ka vikaas (together with all, development for all). On the other side is the Congress party that believes in doing everything for one family.PM Modi
(This article has been edited for length.)
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