Shah: K’taka vote was against Cong
AGGRESSIVE DEFENCE Taunts grand old party for belatedly finding faith in constitutional institutions, justifies BJP’s staking claim
Asserting that the Karnataka mandate was against the Congress, BJP president Amit Shah said on Monday that the opposition party had found a new way of portraying defeat as its victory.
Shah also asked the Congress to explain to the people of Karnataka why they were celebrating even when most of their ministers had lost their seats in the assembly election.
“Only Congress and JD(S) are celebrating, people of Karnataka are not (celebrating),” he said in his first interaction with the media after the BJP failed to muster the numbers to prove its majority in the assembly and had to quit after barely two days in power.
The mandate given by people of Karnataka was against the Congress. There was no confusion about it, he said.
“If we had not staked claim to form government, it would have been against the mandate of Karnataka people,” the BJP chief said.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, eight short of the majority mark in a fractured mandate.
The Congress with 78 members moved quickly to seal a post-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular), which had 38 seats.
The Congress had found a new
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way of portraying defeat as its victory, Shah said, taking a swipe at the rival party, and added that he hoped the new definition of victory would continue till 2019 as it would benefit the BJP.
“The Congress is now starting to have faith in constitutional bodies like Supreme Court, election commission and they even like EVMs,” Shah said, taunting the party that has been critical of the poll panel and the apex court’s functioning in recent times.
He also claimed that the Congress lawyer lied in the Supreme Court that BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa had sought seven days time from the governor to prove majority in the House.