On his two-day maiden visit to Bengaluru, BJP president Amit Shah gave a strong political signal on Saturday to free Karnataka from the Congress. He sent out a message to the State BJP to chalk out plans once again to make the State a gateway to the South.
After the advent of new political process, Shah's visit has signaled his comrades to work overtime to free Karnataka from the Congress and accomplish his objective of decimating the century old party.Amit Shah, a strategist in the party has said the ruling Congress Government in Karnataka is non-performing, corrupt and defunct, and called upon the people to free the State from the ruling party.
In his press conference Shah alleged that the State's economy had been crippled under the Congress misrule and the State's growth rate had declined to five per cent from 10 per cent during the previous BJP rule.He said, "As the NDA freed the country from the Congress at the Centre, the people should free the State from the ruling party. By joining hands with our party, the people should ensure a Congress-free Karnataka."
"The youth of Karnataka have become unemployed after the Congress came to power and the condition of the farmers is very poor, with 77 per cent agricultural households indebted," Shah asserted.Shah without naming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress Government in the State had proved to be an abysmal failure in governance and in maintaining law and order. 'The people's mandate was being squandered by failing to inclusively represent the cause of the millions of people across the State' he said.
He said "Instead of governing the State, the Congress Government has been indulging in sectarian populism, by introducing the Karnataka Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (amendment) Bill in the State Assembly during the recent (December 9-20) Winter Session of the State legislature at Belagavi though subsequently the CM (Siddaramaiah) had announced that the contentious Bill would be withdrawn in the ensuing Budget session due to our stiff opposition,"
It may be recalled that the State Government had also hurriedly withdrawn the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Protection Bill of 2010 and its amended 2012 version, which was awaiting the President's assent, on the last day of the Winter Session after the Opposition BJP protested against the sectarian agenda of the Congress. The Congress returned to power in the State after a decade by securing a majority (122) in the 225-member House in the May 2013 legislative Assembly elections, defeating the BJP which ruled the State for the first time on its own since May 2008.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's style of functioning and his appeasement politics has come under a lot of criticism within the party and many senior Congress leaders have complained to the party high command. Shah thanked the Central Government and Intelligence and security agencies for successfully thwarting a possible terror attack in the country. "I thank the Prime Minister, the Government of India, Intelligence and security agencies for successfully neutralising an attempt of terror attack in the nation. With successful coordination between our security and intelligence agencies, a mishap has been prevented from taking place on the New Year," Shah told mediapersons here. Earlier on Friday, a possible terror attack was averted when a suspicious fishing boat carrying explosives in the Arabian Sea was intercepted near the India-Pakistan maritime boundary, approximately 365 kilometres away from Porbandar in Gujarat.