K'taka polls: Amit Shah takes jibe at guarantees offered by Congress

BELAGAVI: Taking a jibe at the Congress party, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, said that in whichever state the party has offered guarantees, it has lost the elections miserably.

He added that Congress has done "half" of the Bharatiya Janata Party's job by "giving guarantees" in Karnataka as well.

Addressing a public meeting in Belagavi, Amit Shah said, "In whichever state, Congress party offered 'Guarantees', it failed miserably. In Uttar Pradesh, it won just one out of 425 seats. It lost elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Assam. Now, they have again offered these guarantees. So half of BJP's work has been done by them only. Congress forget that Kannadigas are the most intelligent people, they know well what Congress is doing!"

The former BJP president further hit out at Congress accusing it of "not focussing" on the welfare of the Tribal community.

"Under Congress tenure, the budget for ST was only Rs 24,000 crore, while it has been increased to Rs 90,000 crore under BJP.

Under BJP,1.10 lakh Adivasi people received drinking water, 50 lakh Adviasis got houses, 1 crore adivasis received Kisan Samman Nidhi and four times as many Eklavya schools have been created for the Adivasi students," Shah said.

He added, "BJP has also raised the reservation for ST from 3 to 7 per cent. On the other hand, Congress talks about restoring the reservation for Muslims, which was ended by BJP. Modi Ji made Droupadi Murmu the President of the nation, and celebrated 'Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas' on November 15 giving a tribute to Bhagwan Birsa Munda".

He also slammed Congress over its promise of "decisive action" against organisations like Bajrang Dal if voted to power.

"Congress, for years kept Lord Ram locked. While, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Ram Temple. Now, a massive Ram Temple is being constructed in Ayodhya. Today the party (Congress) is insulting Bajrang Bali as well. They are forgetting that Karnataka happens to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman. People will not accept this at all," Amit Shah added.

Earlier in the day, Amit Shah held a roadshow in Belagavi's Chikkodi area. The Home Minister also launched an attack on the Congress party over the '4 per cent Muslim reservation' issue and urged the people to vote for a double-engine government in the state, if they want to "BJP had removed 4 per cent Muslim reservation, and increased reservation of Lingayats, SC and ST community.

Congress party says that if they come to power they will bring back 6 per cent reservation for Muslims. This will decrease reservation of Lingayats and SC, if Karnataka doesn't want this they must vote for the BJP government," he said. The final leg of campaigning for the May 10 Assembly elections has intensified in the State. Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.