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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Karnataka

Modi: Karnataka elections crucial

Staff Reporter

Narendra Modi

BANGALORE: The outcome of the elections in Karnataka will determine national politics, Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party star campaigner Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday.

Addressing the audience at the campaign event of A. Ravi, BJP candidate for Byatrayanapura Assembly Constituency, Mr. Modi said, “Your vote does not merely determine who your next MLA will be. It is not even limited to who will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. It will shape the future of India.”

His speech, simultaneously translated into Kannada by an interpreter, touched on issues of inflation, terrorism, agricultural crises and the “Gujarat model of development.” Stating that Karnataka had the “potential to reach greater heights than Gujarat,” Mr. Modi said that the people of the State needed to vote decisively in favour of a stable government and a strong leadership.

On the issue of inflation and food shortage, Mr. Modi claimed that under the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP, the nation had “an abundance of food grains” so much so that “they were rotting, being eaten by mice and there was not enough space to store the food grains.” On the contrary, the Congress-led UPA has been “importing food grains at unjustifiably high prices.”

Arun Jaitley, in-charge of party affairs in the State, was present. Incidentally, Mr. Modi is the second high-profile politician to the Byatarayanapura constituency. Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee general secretary, had also addressed a rally here during his visit to the State.

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