Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut came out hard against the Bharatiya Janata Party over the election results in Karnataka and claimed that people have become “tired” of PM Narendra Modi and were not even enthusiastic about his campaign. “The Modi wave is also over, claimed the opposition leader. Speaking to the media, Ramesh said, “His language…double engine! What does he even mean by that? In his mind, a double engine means he himself sitting in Delhi, and his remote control sitting in Bengaluru, Bhopal or anywhere else. This is not double engine. Double engine means one engine economic development and the other engine social harmony”.
“People are tired of PM and his campaign, no matter how many roadshows he did, flowers were sprinkled from the sky, but people were not enthusiastic. Just look at the voter turnout. It was over 73 per cent in Karnataka but so less in Bengaluru,” the senior Congress leader added.
“Our vote share increased, and our seats also increased. We received votes from all sections of society, especially from the poor, rural, Adivasis and tribal people,” he said.
The Congress leader also slammed BJP over the ‘Bajrang Bali’ row that erupted after the party mentioned “stringent action” against organisations like Bajrang Dal in its election manifesto. “Bajrang Dal is different and Bajrang Bali is different. Bajrang Dal believes in spreading politics of hatred and violence. What about when then Goa CM Manohar Parrikar banned ‘Shri Ram Sena’? Did PM Modi ask then that Shri Ram has been insulted?” Ramesh said. “The Modi wave is over in the country, and now it’s our turn. Now our wave is about to come into the country,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut in a press conference. Raut said that the victory of the Congress in Karnataka has opened a door for the party in the whole country, and the Karnataka Assembly election results show that dictatorship has been defeated.