 "Modi sees saffron wave rising in country's South")
Narendra Modi at Bangalore's Palace Grounds on November 17, 2013
The streams of people coming from all directions culminated in forming one of the biggest rallies to be held here in the recent past. They had come to see Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in flesh and blood.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier estimated the turnout would be 350,000 as the party sold that many tickets (worth Rs 10 each) for the rally.
While Modi was expected to draw people from across Karnataka, there were many from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as well, who had come all the way to hear Modi speak live.
Perhaps this is what has given the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate an air of optimism. “I can see saffron waves rising across the region,” said Modi, as he began his hour-long speech here on Sunday.
Karnataka is the only state in south India where his party has come to power. Karnataka is currently ruled by the Congress, after the BJP lost in state-level polls in May this year.
In his speech at Bangalore’s Palace Grounds, Modi took on the Congress head-on, alleging the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre was hatching conspiracies against him and his party.
“These days, attacks on the BJP and Modi are sharpening and today’s sight explains why,” said the 63-year-old leader. He lashed out at the UPA for sitting in “ivory towers”, accusing the Congress of being an indoor player while the BJP was an outdoor player, connected to people.
He charged the Congress with using the country’s youth as a vote bank. The BJP considers the youth as India’s strength, he claimed. “Our priority is to empower the youth to make India strong,” Modi told the audience, adding that 65 per cent of the country’s population was below the age of 35 years. “BJP wants them to contribute to India’s development.” On the rising prices of food items, especially that of onion, Modi suggested onion be included in the essential commodities list as was done by the National Democratic Alliance government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He accused the Congress of not taking any steps to curb inflation.
The Gujarat CM was accompanied by BJP president Rajnath Singh, Karnataka's former chief minister Sadananda Gowda and senior leaders from Karnataka Jagadish Shettar and Ananth Kumar.
At the rally, Modi was handed over a cheque of Rs 35 lakh for the installation of the Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue in Gujarat.
Modi also congratulated Sachin Tendulkar and C N R Rao on being awarded the Bharat Ratna.