Bengaluru: Senior Karnataka Congress leader HK Patil hit out at the Narendra Modi government, saying in the last five years, freedom of speech and expression has taken a beating.

Citing the example of how Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath using the phrase ‘Modi’s army’ and Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh’s open canvassing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said people in high offices should not act as agents of anyone.

Urging everyone to abide by the guidelines of the Election Commission, he further added that it is imperative that elections are held in a free and fair manner for the benefit of the nation.

Regretting that the Election Commission had failed to take any action against Adityanath and Singh, he added that a layman would not have been spared and wondered why there are different rules for different people.

Interestingly, he added that the President Ram Nath Kovind has asked the home ministry to look into the issue of the governor of Rajasthan, but wondered why no action was taken so far.

Talking on the issue of how Modi has politicised Pulwama attack, the senior leader added that the Congress party “has won as many as five wars”, but has never used them to earn political brownie points. He even called upon the Election Commission to dismiss the candidacy of Modi and send strong signals to the citizens.

On the issue of the Congress manifesto, he said it was a “revolutionary” manifesto which has been drafted with a lot of care and consideration. Laying emphasis on the stress the farmers are facing, he added that the manifesto has promised to better the lives of the farmers and the party remains committed to it.

Lastly, he assured the people of Mandya that the ongoing crisis would be resolved soon as former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is looking into it.