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Shah slams Cong on 4% quota, says exits will not hurt
Shah said monetary benefits released by the Centre were not duly reaching citizens in some states such as Delhi and West Bengal
Home minister Amit Shah expressed confidence on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark in Karnataka while hitting out at the Congress for what he termed a violation of the Constitution to provide 4% reservation to Muslims in the state, a step later rolled back by the BJP government.
“The Constitution of India does not allow reservations on the basis of religion. Thus, the BJP government in Karnataka ended this practice (Muslim quota) and worked for OBC (Other Backward Class) reservation. The BJP government ended special favours which were aimed at political gains,” Shah said in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Reiterating the work done by the BJP’s “double-engine government”, a reference to the party governing at both the central and the state level, Shah said monetary benefits released by the Centre were not duly reaching citizens in some states such as Delhi and West Bengal.
“For the past 75 years, several political parties have divided the country into two different nations. Once the Narendra Modi government took over, the farmers benefited monetarily. We have covered medical benefits for up to ₹5 lakh and have provided clean drinking water to 47 lakh households,” the home minister said, highlighting how the BJP worked for the people of Karnataka.
Shah said the party was confident of winning the state and two senior Lingayat leaders leaving the BJP would not have an impact. The comment followed a Friday night meeting Shah held with senior state leaders in Bengaluru to discuss the situation. The meeting was attended by CM Basavaraj Bommai, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, Karnataka BJP in-charge Arun Singh and party leaders Annamalai, Shobha Karandlaje and BL Santhosh, among others.
With former CM Jagadish Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi quitting the BJP and joining the Congress, political observers believe the ruling party could lose some of its Lingayat vote, especially in the north Karnataka region.
On the issue of the Congress targeting the central government over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case, Shah told India Today that “no family is above the law in India and the law is above all”.
Gandhi vacated his government bungalow on Saturday after he was served a notice for eviction and said that he was paying the price for speaking the truth.
Replying to a question on Gandhi playing “victim”, he said, “We never asked Rahul Gandhi to disrespect the OBC community. He himself decided not to apologise. The law under which he was convicted was made by the Congress government. Then prime minister Manmohan Singh tried to withdraw that law but Rahul Gandhi himself tore down the ordinance. Now he should not play the victim. No one should think that any family is above the law.”
The ordinance, if passed by Parliament, would have spared any convicted MP from immediate disqualification.
Shah rejected the Congress’s allegations of corruption against the BJP government in Karnataka as “baseless”.
“They are not substantiated by any court and have been fabricated by the Congress to cover up corruption during its own regime,” Shah said, accusing the opposition party of using Karnataka as its “ATM” when it was in power.
“FIRs and complaints have been lodged. However, the accusations could never be proved. It was an effort by the Congress party to shift the corruption blame onto us. Once the election is over everything will become clear,” he said.
On the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, the home minister said, “We will give a befitting reply to any attack on India.”
Making a case for the BJP in the May 10 assembly polls, Shah urged voters to snub the Congress and the JD(S) as the two were working together.
“To vote for JD(S) means voting for Congress,” he said. “Once the elections are over, the JD(S), along with all its MLAs, will sit together with the Congress to gain power.”
Reacting to Shah’s comments, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The 4% quota was given long back. When Supreme Court did not strike it down, why are you people doing this yourself? You (BJP) are snatching away whatever the government gave to the poor and minorities and are creating divisions just for votes.”
Kharge said the people of Karnataka were fed up with the BJP because it encouraged corruption during its rule.
“They were taking 40% commission openly, which was proved by the contractors themselves. Corruption, lack of infrastructure and division among caste and reserved categories — they are doing mischief. But people are united, they want Congress to come to power,” he told ANI.
