BENGALURU: BJP National President Amit S hah, who arrived in Bengaluru on a three-day trip on Saturday, began on a strident note, attacking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and calling his government the most corrupt and shameless. He attacked Siddaramaiah for not acting against his minister D K Shivakumar even after he was raided by income-tax officials.
Shah, who was addressing a select audience of the state’s intelligentsia, said that while BJP has an ideology and a stand on several issues, Congress had no ideology and was still carrying the ashes of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi across the country.
Shah has set the agenda for the Karnataka state BJP leadership to counter “Congress’ polarisation politics”.
Rattled by Siddaramaiah’s offensive over the issues of Veerashaiva-Lingayat religion, separate state flag, aggressive pro-Kannada campaign and Kalasa-Banduri dispute, Shah has asked the Karnataka BJP leadership to formulate an action plan to counter Congress. In each of these issues, BJP is seen to be caught on the back foot.
Shah’s other big challenge is the lack of unity in the party’s state unit. He is expected to send out a strong message to warring factions to unite under the leadership of B S Yeddyurappa, the party’s chief ministerial candidate.
Shah has his schedule all set, with 25 meetings packed in. Apart from Mission 150, which is the party’s objective in the 2018 Assembly polls, Shah has already set sights on the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He has asked party men to rest 25 of the 28 seats in the parliamentary polls.