Congress, corruption related like fish and water, says Shah
In a noholds barred attack, BJP president describes state government as ‘an ATM of corruption for Congress’, criticises chief minister Siddaramaiah for not being able to address the woes of OBCs
In his fourth round of visit to poll-bound Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that the Siddaramaiah government will be thrown out in the May 12 assembly polls, mainly because of corruption.
“I have toured almost the entire state and I can see that the people have decided to throw out the Siddaramaiah government,” Shah said at press conference in Mysuru, even as the Congress debunked his claim, saying people know that BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa had led the most corrupt government in the state.
“The most important issue is corruption. Congress and corruption are related like fish and water. This relationship has been promoted very well by Siddaramaiah. There is a whirlwind of corruption under Siddaramaiah, which will become a tsunami if this government is voted back to power,” the BJP president said.
Shah said the state government had failed on all indicators of human development and had been the worst in the country in terms of utilising central funds.
“Despite Karnataka being the information technology hub and accruing the benefits that come from this, nothing has percolated to the bottom,” he said.
In a no-holds barred attack, Shah described the Karnataka government as “an ATM of corruption for the Congress”.
He also insisted that the Janata Dal (Secular) would not be able to address this situation as it was only limited to a few seats.
“There is only one organisation that can bring about change and that is the BJP under the leadership of (BJP’s chief ministerial candidate) BS Yeddyurappa,” he said.
Earlier this week, Shah made a faux pas at Davangere, saying the “BS Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt”, a mistake he quickly corrected.
However, the Congress had quickly latched onto it to mock Shah, saying the BJP president was “speaking the truth”.
The BJP president also criticised chief minister Siddaramaiah for not being able to address the woes of the Other Backward Classes.
“I want to ask Siddaramaiah, who keeps saying that he is an OBC leader, why did your party stop the Constitutional amendment the central government was bringing for sub-categorisation of the OBCs?” he asked.
When questioned about Siddaramaiah’s recent criticism that the Centre was diverting taxes collected from the southern states towards northern ones, Shah said state taxes were being used to run the country, and that the situation was similar even in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
“Where will money for running the army and Parliament come from? In a federal structure how can you talk in this way? Do they want to break up the country?” Shah asked.
His comments come ahead of a meeting of finance ministers of southern states convened by Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac in Kochi on April 10.
Shortly after Shah’s accusations, Karnataka law minister TB Jayachandra hit back, saying there was nothing wrong in a state asking that it get its just share of taxes.
“Karnataka is one of the highest sources of tax revenue and we are only asking for a greater devolution of this to the state,” he said.
Jayachandra said there was no question of breaking from the country, and described the BJP chief’s remark as irresponsible.
“In a democratic structure we are raising our concerns. Besides, we do not need lessons from the BJP on the meaning of federalism. They are the ones who are out to divide this country,” he said.
On the possibility of mining baron G Janardhan Reddy getting a ticket to contest, Shah said Reddy was not a part of the BJP. “Once the state leadership sends the parliamentary board of the party the list of hopefuls, we will take a decision on whether or not to field those tainted with corruption charges,” Shah said.
Reddy, a former Karnataka minister, spent 40 months in jail following his arrest for illegal mining and was released on bail in January 2015.
On Saturday, Shah also addressed a convention of organic farmers in Mandya.
“Some western scholars say this is default organic farming devoid of scientific thought. But this is advanced organic farming, the importance of which was realised by our seers and ascetics,” Shah said.
There is no anti-incumbency against the ruling Congress government in Karnataka, senior party leader and former Union minister M Veerappa Moily said on Saturday.
“The Congress does not face anti-incumbency in the ensuing poll as chief minister Siddaramaiah has inspired regional pride in the state,” Moily said at an India Today conclave here. Siddaramaiah has led the state for five years with political, social and economic stability, he asserted.
He (Siddaramaiah) inspired the regional pride in the southern state through the decision of having a separate symbolic identity for the state through a flag, which is awaiting an approval from the Union ministry of home affairs, Moily reiterated. “Even with all the populist programmes, the state’s finances never crossed fiscal responsibilities and every programme announced has been implemented,” said Moily, the LS lawmaker from Chikballapur constituency in the state.
Anti-incumbency occurs when the welfare programmes announced for the people are not implemented, the Congressman stressed.
The state government has also decided to accord the recognition of a separate religion status on March 19 to Lingayats and Veerashaiva Lingayats, who follow the principles of 12th century social reformer Basava, he said.
Responding to a question on why then UPA government had in 2013 rejected the state government’s proposal to grant religious minority status to Lingayats, Moily said: “It was only deferred for want of more details in the proposal but never rejected.”
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