Amit Shah Slams Karnataka Government Says It Is 'Corrupt'

Attacking the Karnataka government, BJP President Amit Shah said in his public life, he has not seen any other establishment in the country "as much corrupt and shameless" as the one led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

In spite of several raids and arrests, the Congress does not even punish wrongdoers because they fear they would expose the government, he said addressing a group of intellectuals, invited by the party.

The BJP, however, has always punished the wrongdoers in power, he added.The BJP chief said that the Narendra Modi government had introduced 106 central schemes but their benefits were not reaching people in the state.

He also asked people to overthrow the "corrupt" Siddaramaiah government because the grants by the Centre for various central schemes were not percolating down to the people.

The BJP chief urged people to ask the Karnataka government that where the grants given by the centre had vanished.

"You should at least ask Siddaramaiah where has the money gone? Someone asks or not, but I am going to come to Karnataka during the run-up to the Assembly election and ask for the accounts from Siddaramaiah," he said.

Under the Manmohan Singh rule, Karnataka had received Rs. 61,691 crore from the central government, but under the 14th Finance Commission, the Centre gave Rs. 1,86,975 crore to the state, Mr Shah said.

"The money has increased three folds under Narendra Modiji's government," he said.

Attacking the Congress, he said the BJP was among the few parties which has protected internal democracy within the party, unlike the Congress which runs on dynastic principles.

"Can anybody predict the next national president of the party (BJP). But one can predict with precision who could be the president of Congress after Soniaji decides to retire.

Everybody knows it will be Rahul Gandhi. There is no confusion about it. There is no internal democracy there," he argued.

The BJP is the only party in which a boy who spent his life pasting posters (himself) and a tea seller (Modi) can climb up the ladders of the highest ranks, he said.

Mr Shah also said that whenever, the BJP ruled the nation, the GDP grew rapidly, unlike in the Congress rule.

"When Atal Bihari Vajpayee took charge as the Prime Minister, India's GDP increased from 4.4 per cent to 8.8 per cent, and when Manmohan Singh left after ten years of rule, the GDP climbed down to 4.4 per cent," he said.

"Now under the rule of Modi, who is the son of a tea seller, the GDP has increased to 7.2 per cent from 4.4 per cent," he added.