On Sunday (28th April), Karnataka Congress MLA Priyank Kharge stirred the hornet’s nest after he shared a cropped video, falsely suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Kannadigas as ‘sinners’.
Priyank Kharge, who happens to be the son of Congress President Malikarjun Kharge, tweeted, “Prime Minister Modi says that Kannadigars have sinned. Why do you hate Kannadigas when you see them? Is it Modi’s imagination to insult our countrymen?”
“Earlier you compared Kerala to Somalia, now you call Kannadigas sinners. What sin did Kannadigas commit? Is it a sin to reject the corrupt BJP? Is 40% commission a sin to undermine the government? 25 BJP MPs are inactive for what sin of Kannadigas?” he brazened out.
The Congress MLA continued his unhinged rant, “What sin did the Kannadigas commit? For what sin of Kannadigas Have you cheated on GST for Karnataka? What is the sin of Kannadigas for not giving 5,300 crores for Bhadra Upper Bank Project? What is the sin of not giving special grants as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission?”
“Dear Modi, Karnataka is the land of the virtuous, not the sinners. It is the birthplace of many pious people including Basavanna, Narayanguru, Kuvempu, and Kanakadasa. A land of such virtue, Kannada will never tolerate insulting the Kannadigas. Remember that if there are sinners in Karnataka, they all belong to BJP” Priyank Kharge added.
His tweet was accompanied by a video, which was mischievously cropped to suggest that Modi has labelled people of Karnataka as ‘sinners.’ “Ya Karnataka valo ne jo paap kiya hai uski saza aap is chunav mein dijiye (Punish them in this election for the sin committed by these Karnataka folks),” PM Modi was heard saying.
Several members of the Congress party were sharing the misleading video and making false claims.
“Just because the people of Karnataka voted against the BJP, PM Modi thinks they have committed a sin (Karnataka walo ne paap kiya hai). Shameful! Kannadigas will teach the BJP a lesson which they will never forget!” wrote Gaurav Pandhi.
Another Congress leader Saral Patel tweeted, “BIG NEWS!!! PM Modi insults the people of Karnataka for voting congress. Modi says “Ye Karnataka walon ne jo paap kiya hai” (Karnataka people have committed the sin) This is nothing but an open insult of an entire state on their right to vote of their choice.”
The Truth behind the viral video
The cropped video is a part of a 32-minute long speech delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign in Belagavi city of Karnataka.
During his speech, PM Modi was heard saying, “The treachery done to farmers by the Congress party is nothing short of sin (paap). When BJP was in power in Karnataka, an amount of ₹10000 was deposited in the bank accounts of farmers.”
“After Congress came to power in the State, it stopped giving ₹4000 to farmers in complete disregard for their livelihood. Now, the farmers in Karnataka get only what Modi sends. Don’t worry, you will keep getting the money under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme,” he added.
In this context, PM Modi called Congress government in Karnataka ‘sinners’ and asked people to punish the grand-old party in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Ya Karnataka valo ne jo paap kiya hai uski saza aap is chunav mein dijiye (Punish them in this election for the sin committed by these Karnataka folks),” he emphasised.
“Modi gives you the guarantee that the money sent from Delhi will continue even in the coming years,” he concluded. The statement and context of PM Modi’s speech can be verified from the longer version of the speech, which is available on his YouTube channel.
It is absurd to even think that PM Modi would call Kannadigas ‘sinners’ while seeing votes from them in the Belagavi city of Karnataka.