BJP is "prison, price rise and pakoda" party: Siddaramaiah

Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar- Congress” jibe against his party, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday called Bharatiya Janata Party a “prison, price rise and pakoda” party.

“Dear Modiji, Heard you spun a new abbreviation ‘PPP’ today.

“Sir, we have always championed the 3 Ps of democracy -- ‘Of the People, By the People, For the People’,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet shortly after Modi’s attack.

“While your party is a ‘Prison’, ‘Price Rise’ & ‘Pakoda’ party. Am I right, Sir? #NijaHeliModi,” he said.

“Nijaheli” in Kannada means tell the truth.

All guns blazing, Modi on Saturday mounted a scathing attack on the Congress over corruption, and asserted it will become “Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar” Congress after its defeat in the Karnataka assembly polls.

“After May 15 (when poll results will be declared), Indian National Congress will be reduced to ‘PPP Congress’-- P for Punjab, P for Puducherry, and P for Parivar (family),” Modi told an election rally in Gadag, where he predicted the state’s ruling party would be decimated in the elections.

The chief minister also hit out at Modi’s attack regarding increase in assets belonging to some Congress legislator/minister.

“Sir, Your CM candidate took bribe in a cheque. One of your Reddy friends G Janardhana Reddy conducted Rs 500 crore wedding for his daughter at the height of demonetisation,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Modi on Saturday addressed four rallies in Tumakuru, Gadag, Shivamogga and Mangaluru in poll-bound Karnataka, where assembly election is scheduled for May 12.

Siddaramaiah asked Modi to talk about “something relevant” to the people of Karnataka and suggested topics such as expensive diesel and petrol besides job creation.