Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday blamed the Congress for the nearly 10,000 voter ID cards that were found in an apartment in Bengaluru by the Election Commission. He said the party had made the voter ID cards to win the elections. Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have blamed each other for the incident.

Late Tuesday, the Election Commission of Karnataka recovered 9,746 Elector Photo Identity Cards from the apartment in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar. Elections for 224 seats of the Karnataka Assembly will take place on May 12, and the results will be announced on May 15.

“Making thousands of fake voter ID cards to win elections is the tactic of Congress, and people should never forgive such a party,” Modi said at a rally in Chikmagalur. “Fearing a crushing defeat, Congress is indulging in all kinds of sins. You should stay awake till May 12.”

Modi also said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that he was ready to be the prime minister was “evidence of arrogance” and added that it may not go down well with senior Congress leaders, ANI reported.

“Yesterday in Karnataka, someone made an important declaration,” Modi said at a rally in the state’s Kolar city. “Ignoring those waiting in queue, those in alliances, those sitting with 40 years of experience, he said, ‘I am going to be the prime minister!’ Declaring oneself a prime minister like this, isn’t it evidence of arrogance?”

“To remove Modi from power, the Congress holds big meetings,” Modi claimed. “How will the big leaders who attend these meetings react to this sudden announcement by a famous person that he is going to be the prime minister?”

Modi reiterated that the Congress was only interested in making “deals”. “I’m not saying this. It is a Congress MP and former Karnataka chief minister who said this,” the prime minister added, in a reference to Veerappa Moily, who had denied making a tweet claiming that money plays a role in his party’s choice of election candidates. “When tickets were sold, he said that Congress will have to solve their ‘money problem’.”

Modi claimed that the Congress stood for six evils that had perpetrated in India – Congress culture, communalism, casteism, crime, corruption and the contract system, the Hindustan Times reported. The prime minister claimed that those born with “golden spoons” – perhaps again a reference to Rahul Gandhi – would not understand the aspirations of the poor people of India.

“The Congress patronises courtiers who only bow to Delhi, not the aspirations of the people,” Modi said. “During the United Progressive Alliance government, there was one prime minister and one remote control. In the National Democratic Alliance government, our remote control and the high command are the 125 crore people of India,” he said. The prime minister exhorted the people of Karnataka to reject the Congress party.