BENGALURU: Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Saturday ruled out an alliance with the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, and stated, “JDS is no match for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka.”
Speaking at BJP’s ‘Jana Sankalpa Yatra’ in Bengaluru, Shah said the BJP would form government with a two-third majority. He accused the JDS and the Congress of practicing dynastic politics and being corrupt when in power.
“JDS and Congress are two sides of the same coin,” Shah said. “There are clearly two sides and it is a straight fight this time. Journalists say there is a triangular fight. I said no, it is a straight fight, because voting for JD(S) means voting for Congress,” Shah said.
Accusing the JD(S) of spreading rumours claiming that the BJP will tie up with them, he said: “I have come to tell you that we will not go with any party. We will fight alone and form the government.”
Speaking at the BJP’s booth presidents and booth-level agents convention at the Palace Ground, Shah said the JDs and the Congress had come together and forgotten their differences to fight the BJP in Karnataka in 2018 but the coalition government had collapsed owing to corrupt administration.
Shah accused former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Congress former chief minister Siddaramaiah of doing nothing substantial for the uplift of the poor when they were in power.
“It is for the people to decide whom they support in the elections, whether they will back a party which fights for unity of the country or a party which divides the country,” Shah said.
Shah wanted the people to decide whether they backed a party which stood by the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). People should also decide whether they back a party which was building the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Recalling the BJP’s electoral performance, that the party had won in five out of seven states recently, Shah said, “If you want to form a government, don’t form an incomplete one, form a government with a full two-thirds majority.” He added: “I have seen the mood of the people of Karnataka. People are ready (to support us), we need to go to them.”
