Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday claimed the Karnataka government did not care about farmers, and criticised it for not implementing the crop insurance scheme effectively, PTI reported. He was speaking to Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morcha workers in the poll-bound state via the NaMo app.

Elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will take place on May 12, and the results will be announced on May 15. The Assembly elections are crucial as the results are expected to set the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Modi began campaigning in the state on Tuesday, and is expected to address more rallies on Thursday.

His government’s top priority was the welfare of farmers, he claimed. “As part of our holistic approach to agriculture, from purchase of seeds to reaching the farm produce to markets, we are working towards making farmers strong,” he said.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is indifferent and does not “care about the benefits that a farmer can get from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana”, he said. “I keep getting complaints regarding Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana from Karnataka, but one of our MPs has done great work in his constituency with the help of Kisan morcha workers.” The prime minister, however, did not name this MP.

Modi added that the Karnataka government had not been proactive enough in tackling the drought the state faced over the last three seasons.

Urging Kisan Morcha volunteers to contact farmers and convince them to vote for the saffron party, Modi said, “You have to give them the confidence that there should now be a government that is sensitive towards them, that understands their problems. The welfare of farmers is our primary responsibility.”

He continued, “Their welfare has always been our legacy, our nature. It has been our way of thinking. The Congress only shows lip sympathy to farmers...they only speak about them in their speeches.”

He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yedyurappa is a “farmer leader”.