Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Sonia Gandhi accuses BJP of spreading hate

In her first election rally in four years, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday packed many a punch in her address in Hubballi. Gandhi criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their promotion of “hatred".She stated that the current government was not capable of bringing progress to the southern state.

Gandhi’s rally in Hubbali on Saturday was her first since she spoke at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in December 2019.Gandhi referenced the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a foot march through India led by Congress leader and her son Rahul Gandhi, and said it perturbed the BJP. “Bharat Jodo Yatra was done against people who do only one thing, which is spreading hatred. Such people can never bring any development in Karnataka,” she said.

The senior Congress leader said the incumbent BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Basavraj Bommai in the state, did not believe in the principles of democracy, and refused to answer questions. “They (BJP) think democratic principles are in their pockets. Does democracy work like this?” she said. 

This was Gandhi’s first foray into the crucial assembly elections campaign, which has seen Rahul Gandhi hold at least 17 rallies and roadshows, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra 19.The former Congress chief has previously contested an election in Karnataka, defeating the late Sushma Swaraj in Bellari in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. Gandhi had fought from both Bellari and Amethi (in Uttar Pradesh), and chose to represent the latter.Polling for the 224-member Karnataka assembly will be held on May 10 and counting of votes on May 13