Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Karnataka saying bad governance and corruption has weakened the development of the state.
"When Congress Governments were working in Karnataka almost seven years ago, at that time Karnataka was counted in the category of the most progressive and developed states of the country. We used to hear about the good works from the state everyday," said Dr. Singh.
"But the situation has changed completely in the last few years under the rule of the BJP Government. (Today) bad governance, carelessness in development works and above all corruption has led to the slackening of progress in Karnataka," he added.
The Prime minister said the development rate of the state has become very slow while addressing an election rally at Hubli, Karnataka.
" Attention is neither paid to agriculture nor industries. The common people of Karnataka today are fed up of the problem of electricity and water. The roads are in a bad condition. The law and order situation is also not good," he added.
Moreover, the PM added that the BJP has changed three chief ministers in last five years and said that several ministers were removed from their posts on charges of corruption.
The Prime Minister also said that the ruling government has not paid any attention to infrastructure, resulting in a number of industries going to Hyderabad and Pune.
"I have been told that the state government has given permission for the opening up of several new universities in which the charges of corruption have also been levelled. I am particularly unhappy about the fact that lack of development can be found in those areas where the minorities live in large numbers like Raichur, Gulbarga, Bellary and Bidar," said Dr. Singh.
"Lack of communal harmony and sense of insecurity among the minorities is prevalent. You will agree with me that there is a need to change this situation. If you enable the Congress to form government in Karnataka, we will give prominence to both agriculture and industries. We will augment the infrastructure and development," he added.
Dr. Singh also praised the contributions of former Karnataka chief ministers S.M. Krishna, M. Veerappa Moily and Dharam Singh for taking the state ahead on the developmental path.
"All the Congress chief ministers gave importance to development. And, that is why in the last four decades, Karnataka could achieve so much," he said.
The Prime Minister said only the Congress Government can make developments in the state speedily and assured the voters for the same.
The Congress party is putting all their efforts to defeat BJP in the state and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and former External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna are some of the big names of the Congress Party who have so far campaigned in Karnataka.
Approximately 2,900 candidates have entered the fight for the assembly polls in Karnataka in which Indian National Congress (INC) has fielded 224 candidates for the Karnataka polls, while the BJP has given tickets to 223 candidates this time.
Elections to the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly are to be held on May 5 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 8.
-With inputs from ANI
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