NEW DELHI: The BJP will win with an absolute majority and retain power in Karnataka, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. He claimed that the BJP will win 15-20 seats over the halfway mark in the Karnataka Assembly polls. Shah’s remarks come at a time when a series of senior BJP leaders, including prominent Lingayat leaders like Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, quit the party after being denied tickets to contest in the upcoming elections.
The home minister was speaking at an event in Bengaluru.
Accusing the Congress of sheltering the banned outfit PFI and dividing the society, Shah also cautioned Kannadigas that any vote for the JD(S) will mean voting for the Congress and reminded people of the power sharing between the two parties.
Shah praised Lingayat strongman and former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa for his "consistent hard work for the party" and batted for a "double engine government," which he said is the only way Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s schemes can reach the common man.
Lingayat is a numerically dominant caste in the election-bound state and is considered a strong vote bank of the ruling BJP.
"Purna bahumat se jeetenge...," replied Shah to a question on his prediction for the coming electoral battle in the southern state, rejecting reports of a hung Assembly.
On the exodus of some senior BJP leaders after they were denied a ticket, Shah said the BJP believes in change and most of those who quit the party earlier did not win elections after joining other parties and the "trend will continue even this time".
Asserting there is "no difference between the Congress and JD(S)," Shah said, "Once the elections are over, the JD(S), along with all its MLAs, will sit together with the Congress to gain governance. People should understand that their votes will be wasted if they vote separately for the Congress and JD(S)."
Accusing the Congress of illegally allotting quotas to Muslims in the state, Shah said the Indian Constitution does not allow reservations on the basis of religion and therefore, the BJP government in the state ended the practice.
"The BJP government in the state ended special favours aimed at political gains and brought the Constitution into order," Shah said.
On the allegation hurled by the opponents of the "40 per cent commission," Shah said, "FIRs and complaints were lodged, but such accusations were never proved. These were efforts by the Congress to shift the corruption blame at us... Chunav aane dijiye doodh ka doodh, pani ka pani ho jayega."
