Language politics denied quality higher education to poor: PM Modi in Karnataka | India News – Times of India

BENGALURU/DAVANAGERE: PM Narendra Modi hit out at political opponents on Saturday for “playing games over languages” that had consequently deprived rural and poor children of quality higher education over the past years, while asserting that kids can now learn in their mother tongue because of his government’s policy push for native languages in schools and colleges.
“Kannada is such a prosperous language that it adds to the pride of India. You can study engineering, medicine or any other technology in Kannada with ease. The previous governments did not do anything because these parties did not want our rural kids, children from backward classes and poor families to become engineers or doctors,” the PM said.
His remarks in the poll-bound state bring to context the emotive language issue that has been at the core of a border dispute in Karnataka’s Belagavi, where political outfits had claimed that most people speak Marathi and hence, should be merged with Maharashtra. In Davanagere, where he addressed a mega rally marking the end of BJP‘s 8,000km Vijaya Sankalapa Yatra ahead of the assembly polls, PM Modi asked people to vote for his party because a stable and “double-engine” government in Karnataka is vital for continuing the pace of development.
“Karnataka has seen a long period of opportunistic and selfish coalition governments. Karnataka has faced losses due to such governments. If I must serve you and do something for you, I will need the BJP’s strong and stable government with full majority,” Modi said. His request to voters to elect a stable government followed recent surveys that forecast a fractured verdict in Karnataka.
Before his Davanagere rally, PM Modi made a pitch for native languages as a medium of instruction, as envisaged by his government’s new education policy (NEP). There’s opposition to such a move, which BJP had countered as a selfish, vote-bank ploy to divide and deprive people on linguistic lines.
“Today, due to the efforts of our government, they (rural and poor children) can study medicine, engineering, or any other technology in their own language, including Kannada,” he said after opening the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Chikkaballapura, 60km from Bengaluru. The PM said BJP had changed the “politics of perception to politics of performance” in the country. “This is a double-engine government that works day and night. From providing free rations to free healthcare, it is taking care of, and working for the poor,” he said.
PM Modi urged people to end the trend of coalition governments. He targeted Congress and accused the opposition party of using Karnataka as “an ATM that fills the treasury of its leaders”.
He said Congress had been “wandering with a bag of false guarantees” ahead of elections, but similar promises made in Himachal Pradesh did not find mention in the party-led government’s recent budget in the hill state.
“Can we trust a Congress that makes false promises? Should they be allowed to place a step inside Karnataka, or should they be thrown out?” he asked in Davanagere.
PM Modi alleged that the opposition party had been dreaming and even publicly saying that “Modi, your grave will be dug…” He said: “But they don’t know that the people of Karnataka are saying, ‘Modi, your lotus will bloom’.”