Siddaramaiah-led Congress govt has broken all records in corruption, says Amit Shah

Bengaluru: BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka, accusing it of having broken “all records” in corruption. Kickstarting the BJP state unit’s “Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivarthana Yatra” at a rally, he claimed that a survey had found that the state government was the “most corrupt” in the country. [caption id=“attachment_1521935” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. PTI[/caption] Shah described state BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa, who is spearheading the yatra, as the prospective chief minister and claimed that the ‘yatra" would lead to the ouster of the Siddaramaiah government. Shah alleged that the funds released by the central government to the state were not reaching the people they were intended to benefit. The BJP chief also slammed the state government for celebrating the birth anniversary of 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan as “Tipu Jayanti” on 10 November and claimed that it was “votebank politics”. “The government is more interested in celebrating 10 November as Tipu Jayanti rather than celebrating Kannada Rajyotsava (state formation day which fell yesterday) with grandeur,” he claimed. The BJP has been opposing the event as it sees Tipu Sultan as a “religious bigot” and a “brutal killer”. The 75-day yatra, launched at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre grounds off Tumakuru road, is aimed at “exposing” the alleged misdeeds of the Congress government. It will crisscross all the 224 Assembly constituencies in the state. A galaxy of national leaders, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, are expected to take part in the yatra at different places. During the yatra, BJP leaders will hold public meetings in each Assembly constituency, and present an alternative agenda for development. The BJP is eyeing to capture power in the Assembly polls in Karnataka due early next year. The party had installed its first-ever government in the South in 2008. The rally will culminate in Bengaluru on 28 January and it will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.