LS polls: "Save democracy by defeating the BJP," says CM Siddaramaiah

Kodagu (Karnataka) [India], April 14 : Claiming democracy is under threat in the country, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Sunday asked the people to vote for the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls and "save the Constitution."
He said this during the election campaign 'Janadhwani-2' in Madikeri, Kodagu.
"Democracy is under threat in India. The obligation to save the Constitution is before all of us. This Lok Sabha election is an opportunity for us. We have to save democracy by defeating the BJP and making the Congress win," Siddaramaiah said.
"Any threat to the Constitution means a threat to the lives and future of women, the poor, the middle class, shudras, and the hardworking people of the country," he stressed.
Siddaramaiah urged citizens to seize the upcoming Lok Sabha election as an opportunity to uphold democracy by defeating the BJP-led central government.
"The BJP is anti-constitutional, and changing the Constitution is the conspiracy of the BJP. The union ministers themselves have openly said this," he claimed.
The Chief Minister questioned why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) parivar "did not participate in the freedom struggle against the British?" and said that they can never be patriotic.
The Chief Minister mentioned Dr B R Ambedkar's words of warning against the anti-constitutionalists in the Constituent Assembly and said, "We have formulated and implemented five guarantee schemes for the social and economic empowerment of the poor of all castes, classes and religions in society.
Directing scrutiny towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tenure, Siddaramaiah asked whether PM Nodi had fulfilled "even one of his promises."
"Has Modi fulfilled even one of his promises as Prime Minister in ten years? Let him keep his hands over his heart and say," Siddaramaiah said.
Asserting the electorate's wisdom in Kodagu district, Siddaramaiah said, "Will your vote be valued if you vote for someone who misleads and provokes Indians? Won't your votes be valued if you vote for those who have fulfilled the promises and responded to the lives of the people in the state? Voters of Kodagu district are sensible. I hope that they will vote wisely."
"The government is committed to providing whatever Ponnanna and Manthar Gowda, MLAs from Kodagu, ask for the development of the constituency," he added.
KPCC President and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Ministers HC Mahadevappa, K Venlatesh, MLAs Ponnanna, Manthar Gowda, KPCC Working President Tanveer Seth, Mehrooz Khan, and others were present on the occasion.