Amit Shah rakes up Siddaramaiah’s Lingayat jibe in his backyard

Varuna: To attract crucial 70,000-odd Lingayat voters in Siddaramaiah’s turf, senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Congress leader of insulting Lingayats by calling them corrupt during his campaign in Varuna.
It is from Varuna that Siddaramaiah is contesting election, and is pitted against BJP’s heavyweight V Sommana who is also contesting from Chamarajanagar constituency.
Fielding Sommana from two constituencies is a part of BJP’s game plan to restrict Siddaramaiah in Varuna, instead of allowing him to hit statewide campaigns for party candidates.
Siddaramaiah’s distasteful comment against Lingayats has gravely disrespected the community, Shah said.
“Prior to this, the Congress had insulted the Lingayats by unceremoniously removing Nijalingappa ji and Virendra Patil ji from the post of chief minister,” he said.
Commenting on Siddaramaiah changing constituencies in the last two elections, Shah said: “I want to ask him why he changed constituencies. Sometimes he contests from Chamundeswari, sometimes it is Badami and sometimes it is Varuna assembly Constituency. Why? I will tell you the reason. He is actually being driven away from every constituency because he does no development work,” he said.
Shah also asked people whether they prefer a leader who is about to retire or a futuristic leader. Siddaramaiah had earlier declared that it would be his last election. “When Siddaramaiah ji was the chief minister he stopped the works of the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway. But soon after Yeddyurappa ji became the chief minister Modi ji started the works,” he said
During Siddaramaiah’s tenure, the My Sugar factory was taken to the verge of closure, Shah said.
Shah said that the Congress party has always disrespected Dr Ambedkar but the Prime Minister built Panchtirth commemorating Ambedkar. He was never honoured with the Bharat Ratna during the Congress regime, but the BJP honoured him with the Bharat Ratna award, he said.
He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a Dalit Ram Nath Kovind the President of India.
The Congress government gave Muslims 4 per cent reservations but the BJP removed it, he said. “If the Congress party comes to power they will restore Muslim reservations and decrease the reservations we have provided for the Lingayats, Vokkaliga ST and SC reservations we have created.”
He also said that the BJP increased the SC reservation from 15 per cent to 17 percent and the ST reservation from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, the Vokkaliga reservation has increased from 4 percent to 6 per cent and the Lingayat reservation has increased to 7 per cent from 5 per cent, he said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured this nation. He also started the work to build Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He answered Pakistan’s terror attacks by launching surgical strikes and ending terrorism. Congress cannot secure the nation, it cannot make the nation prosper, it cannot end corruption, and it cannot develop Karnataka. Then what is the point of voting for Siddaramaiah in Varuna?” he asked.
UNI