Karnataka polls: Amit Shah targets Siddaramaiah on home turf Varuna
MYSURU: Targeting Siddaramaiah at his home turf Varuna during the public meeting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday played the ‘Lingayat card’ and urged voters to keep away Siddaramaiah from power who according to him has insulted the Lingayats.
Speaking at a mammoth rally in Varuna constituency to seek vote in favour of BJP candidate V Somanna, Shah said, Siddaramaiah had recently said that Lingayat community brought corruption in Karnataka thereby insulting the whole community.
“The Congress is known for insulting and sacking Lingayat leaders S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil as CMs in the past,: he added. He said that the Bommai-led State Government recently scrapped the 4% quota for Muslims which was provided by the Congress government in the past. “But Congress leader Siddaramaiah says that they will re-introduce the reservation to Muslims if the Congress wins the upcoming elections and will take back the reservation given to the Lingayat community,” he said. Shah asked the people to choose between a leader who is about to retire (Siddaramaiah) and a future leader (V Somanna).
He cautioned the voters that the BJP banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) and said if the Congress returns to power it will revoke the ban. “Congress converted Karnataka into an ATM for the party while we strive for the development of the state. The Siddaramaiah government kept the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway on hold for five years while former CM BS Yediyurappa revived the project and today we are able to see a road of international standards,” he said.
Later, Shah held public meetings at Hanur and Kollegal campaigning for Preetham Nagappa and N Mahesh, respectively. He said a vote for the BJP would expedite development of Karnataka but the state would shift to reverse gear if Congress comes to power.