Belagavi: The Home Minister of India Amit Shah on Tuesday claimed if the Congress were to come to power in Karnataka, the state would be “afflicted by riots”.
Shah was speaking at a campaign rally in Terdal, Belagavi district. The Congress, the home minister told the crowd, will only bring “appeasement politics” to Karnataka. The development will slip into “reverse gear” if the BJP is not elected, he continued.
“Only BJP can lead the state towards a new Karnataka,” The Times of India quoted Shah as saying.
Meanwhile, the Congress termed Shah’s remarks as a “brazenly intimidatory statement”, and accused him of “issuing threats” during the election campaign.
Hitting back at Shah, Congress general secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh said, “This is a brazenly intimidatory statement. The Union Home Minister having allegiance to an organisation banned by India’s very first Home Minister is now issuing threats during an election campaign when staring at certain defeat.”
In another tweet, Ramesh said that it is now clear that BJP is losing Karnataka decisively. The response of the people to the campaigns of the Congress leadership has been overwhelming, he said. “This explains Amit Shah’s 4-I strategy: Insult, Inflame, Incite and Intimidate. Shame on Shah! We are raising it with the ECI,” Ramesh said.
The Congress had criticised Shah on Tuesday as well over his reported remarks that the upcoming Karnataka polls are not just to elect MLAs but to entrust the future of the state in the hands of Modi. The Opposition party had claimed that the comments were an “insult” to 6.5 crore Kannadigas. Voting for the Karnataka Assembly polls will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes is scheduled for May 13.
