Unfortunate that Modi was born in Gandhi's land: Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been born in the land of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking after inaugurating a function organised at the KPCC headquarters to mark Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri's birth anniversary, he said people should be cautious about BJP leaders.

The communal BJP always pursues hidden agenda and Congress members should be doubly careful about BJP leaders and always be ready to counter their agenda, he added.

He came down heavily on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over his recent statement calling for review of the reservation policy, and said the system would continue as long as the country had the caste system.

The caste system can go only when there is change in people's mindset and that can happen only when there is social and economic equality in society, he added.

“Modi is dreaming of smart cities. It is not a mistake. We, too, support it. But villages must also become smart along with cities. Only then will Mahatma Gandhi's dream of gram swaraj come true,” said the chief minister.

Speaking later at a function to give away the Gandhi Grama Puraskara awards, Siddaramaiah said care should be taken to ensure people in rural areas do not migrate in large numbers to urban areas while developing smart cities.

“A large section of people are still living in rural areas. So importance should be given on the development of villages,” he said.

KPCC president G Parameshwara also attacked Modi at the KPCC function, saying it was unbecoming of a prime minister to speak lightly of Opposition parties abroad.

No prime minister in the past, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, had spoken ill of the Opposition when travelling abroad, he added.