PM Modi fails to connect with Mysore crowd

The big question everyone is asking after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in Mysore on Monday is whether his charisma is waning, or is his arrogance in not having a live translator for his Hindi speech going to cost him in connecting with the people of Karnataka in the upcoming Assembly Elections?

Addressing a huge gathering in Mysore on Monday, Prime Minister Modi failed to connect to the audience of people from the Old Mysore region comprising Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Coorg and Hassan districts. A region where BJP has still not been able to make adequate inroads among the electorate, even after ruling Karnataka for while and importing leaders from various parties to its fold.

It appeared that Prime Minister Modi was very casual in addressing issues pertaining to the state of Karnataka, especially on the home turf of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The PM could not raise any major issue with regard to the Congress-led state government, but could only embarrass himself by claiming credit for the six-lane Mysore-Bangalore National Highway, which was sanctioned during the previous UPA Government.

Prime Minister Modi further said that the newly inaugurated 'Humsafar Train' would open connectivity, promote tourism and develop business opportunities between Karnataka and Rajasthan, forgetting that there are already two trains running from Mysore to Rajasthan—one to Jaipur and another to Ajmer.

PM Modi accused the state government of being a “Commission Government” and said that BJP Government, if elected, would be a “Mission Government”, ignoring the fact that the person being projected by them as Chief Minister is a tainted person.

The meet also failed to showcase BJP’s newly-acquired leaders who have some heft among the electorate, such as Dalit leader and former Union Minister Srinivas Prasad. It was also very evident that BJP still remains at a distance for people from the minority communities. No one from the Christian community, which has a considerable vote in the region, was represented on the dais. Former Union Minister and Chief Minister of Karnataka SM Krishna, who hails from this region, was absent. Krishna, meanwhile, has refused to predict a victory for the BJP in the upcoming state elections.

It was also evident that there was a serious lapse backstage in identifying the issues that were pertinent to the audience and the voters of this region, as none of the speakers including Prime Minister Modi could connect to the crowd, underscoring that the priority of the local, state and central BJP leadership was only to muster up an impressive crowd for PM Modi.