Addressing election meetings in poll-bound Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday continued to target the Congress, saying the grand old party protected the masterminds of terror.

”If there is instability in Karnataka, your fortune will also remain unstable. Congress is the enemy of peace in Karnataka… it is the enemy of development. Congress protects the masterminds of terror…promotes appeasement,” he said at a rally at Moodabidri town in Dakshina Kannada.

Pointing out that a few years ago in Rajasthan many people were killed in an explosion, Modi said the Congress government and the police still let the culprits out of jail without any punishment being given to them.

“Appeasement is the only identity of the Congress party. Do you want to let them rule this state? Let Karnataka be destroyed? Whichever state wants progress and prosperity they will put the Congress party out first. If peace is there in society, Congress can’t be at peace. If the country is progressing, Congress can’t tolerate it,” the PM said.

He accused the Congress of pursuing the policy of divide and rule. Karnataka has seen its scary face. The Congress was saving terror suspects and letting them out.

“I have a dream of taking the country’s economy to the third position from the present fifth place. Without Karnataka state, I can’t achieve it. No one noticed India until it became the fifth-largest economy. We have surpassed the UK, which had ruled India for 250 years and made us slaves. This is what the Modi government can do,” the PM said.

The BJP, he said, wanted to make Karnataka the number one state in terms of development but the Congress wanted to make the state the ATM of a family.

The PM appealed to first-time voters to vote for the BJP in order to make their careers and shape the country’s future. “If you elect an unstable government, your career will become unstable. Congress is an enemy of peace and investors run away from states where Congress is ruling,” he said.

“Our country respects soldiers but the Congress, our Army, soldiers and Army chiefs. At a time when the whole world is giving respect to Indian democracy, the Congress is defaming the nation worldwide,” he said.