People will not vote for BJP, Amit Shah can't dislodge my govt: Siddaramaiah

Kalaburagi​: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday sharply reacted to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah’s attack on his government saying although “Mr Shah is good at criminal acts, he cannot devise a strategy to dislodge my government.”

Addressing BJP workers in Bengaluru, Shah had accused the Congress government of being corrupt and had asserted that his mission was to root it out.

Siddaramaiah, who flew down to Aland town near Kalaburagi to lay foundation stones for various development works, hinted that he was not overawed by the poll achievements of Shah, who is hailed as a master strategist.

“Shah may have succeeded in Uttar Pradesh. But we are no kids, we have been in politics for the last 40 years. If he was a master strategist, why did his plans not succeed in Punjab, Goa and Manipur ? Winning elections in Karnataka is not like ordering IT raids on some Congress leaders. This is the land of Basavanna, his divisive politics will not work in Karnataka “, Siddaramaiah observed.

He pooh-poohed BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa’s ‘Mission 150’ plan saying the BJP cannot hope to win more than 50 seats in the coming Assembly election.

“Why will the people vote for BJP whose Chief Minister had gone to jail? he asked adding,

“People will back my party as we have given them free rice, waived farmers loans and fulfilled most of the promises made before the last poll. The people will not betray the government which has provided them free food, education and other benefits”, he remarked.

He took strong exception to Shah’s statement describing his government as “most corrupt”.

“Shah makes these remarks in the presence of Yeddyurappa, who was sent to jail on corruption charges. Shah must be aware of the fact that many other BJP leaders from the state have gone to jail," he added.

Earlier during an interaction with the media,  Siddaramaiah contended that Shah’s campaign in Karnataka would not help the BJP much as people know that the BJP does not stand for social justice.

“People will not support them”, he added. He described the IT raids on Congress leaders such as DK Shivakumar, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Govindraj and Shamanur Shivashankarappa as a “conspiracy” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah to decimate the Congress.

“Are BJP leaders Harishchandras? We will not be cowed down by such raids”, he declared.

BR Patil is Aland candidate: CM
Even though sitting Aland MLA BR Patil has not yet formally joined the Congress, he has been declared as Congress candidate from the same constituency in the ensuing Assembly election. Siddaramaiah declared Patil as the Congress candidate during his visit to Aland to lay the foundation stone for various development works.

Patil, who got elected on KJP ticket in 2013, has made a representation to KPCC to admit him to the party.

‘BJP president creating unrest’
KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao has accused BJP National President Amit Shah of visiting Karnataka to destablize the state government by misusing central investigative agencies.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, he said Shah was in Karnataka since Saturday mainly to polarise the Hindu vote by creating communal unrest. The saffron party had a hidden agenda of instigating people and creating law and order problems. It would not be allowed here as the Congress was confident of defeating the communal party in the coming elections.

"The BJP's Mission-150 seats will be reduced to Mission-50," he quipped.