Amidst the rampant controversy drawn by the movie 'The Kerala Story', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday broke his silence and spoke about the movie in Karnataka as he used it as the latest weapon to attack the Congress party in the poll-bound state. Karnataka is heading for a single-phase assembly poll on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13. 

The state is witnessing high-charged campaign trails between the BJP and Congress and as the campaign has been culminating into the final phase, the national leaders of both the parties are advancing their attacks against the opposite camps. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Karnataka and spoke at an event that became his prospect to invoke The Kerala Story as his weapon to attack the Congress party. 

Slamming the grand old party for standing with terrorism, Modi, while speaking at an event in Bellari, Karnataka, accused the Congress of opposing the controversial movie. He said, "The Kerala Story film is based on a terror conspiracy. It shows the ugly truth of terrorism and exposes terrorists' design. Congress is opposing the film made on terrorism and standing with terror tendencies. Congress has shielded terrorism for the vote bank." 

In a blitzkrieg against Congress, Modi further said, "I am surprised to see that Congress has succumbed to terrorism for the sake of its vote bank. Can such a party ever save Karnataka? In the atmosphere of terror, the industry, IT industry, agriculture, farming and glorious culture here will be destroyed." "Security system, law and order is the most important requirement to make Karnataka number one state of country. It is equally important for Karnataka to remain free from terrorism. BJP has always been tough against terrorism. But Congress gets stomach ache whenever action is taken on terrorism", he added. 

By claiming that Congress makes fake narratives and surveys for winning politics, Modi went on to say, "They attempt to mislead the voters in the state. Congress' manifesto is all about appeasement, it is all about bans. The people of Karnataka are watching their (Congress) politics of appeasement. They dislike me invoking Bajrang Bali." 

"Ever since independence, the Congress has worked to corrupt the country's systems as well as the country's politics. In the last few years, Congress has created another disease in the politics of India. To win elections, Congress creates false narratives on the basis of its ecosystem, on the basis of money. Congress tries to mislead the public by doing this", Modi opined. 

Attacking Congress over the latter's accusation against BJP's commission regime in Karnataka, Modi said, "The double-engine govt under the leadership of Yeddyurappa ji and Bommai ji got a chance to serve for only three and a half yrs. When Congress govt was here, it gave priority to corruption instead of Karnataka's development. What was the reason for this? Congress' former PM Rajiv Gandhi himself told that his govt sent 100 paise from Delhi, but only 15 paise reached the poor. In a way, he himself accepted that Congress is a party with 85% commission." 

Alleging that the manifesto released by the Congress is full of fake promises, Narendra Modi said that the manifesto of BJP is a resolution letter with a roadmap to make Karnataka the number one state in the country. Narendra Modi's remarks have come at a high time when 'The Kerala Story' has triggered a national attention over its storyline of religious polarisation. The states like Tamil Nadu had announced that they would beef up the security measures at the theatres that screen the movie owing to the intelligence alerts that the movie could cause untoward incidents. 

Why The Kerala Story sparked controversy

Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story shows that 32,000 girls from Kerala were converted to Islam and sympathized to join the terrorist organisation ISIS in Syria. Several opposition parties including the Congress and CPI(M) have opposed the movie and said that it is exhibiting communal misinformation. The parties have alleged that the filmmakers are promoting the propaganda of the Hindu nationalist outfits of defaming Kerala and propagating the idea of love jihad.