Karnataka: Jagdish Shettar Will Lose Election, Hubballi Has Always Voted For BJP, Says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that former Karnataka chief minister Jagdish Shettar, who recently defected from BJP to Congress, will lose the election in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

Shettar joined Congress after leaving BJP and is contesting from Hubballi-Dharwad-Central, from where he won multiple times.

Shah said BJP won't suffer any loss, despite Shettar defecting to Congress and contesting from Hubballi-Dharwad-Central.

Karnataka will go to polls on 10 May and the votes will be counted on 13 May.

At a press conference on Tuesday (25 April), Shah said that Jagdish Shettar will lose the election as Hubballii has always supported BJP, and all the party workers are united.

"There'll be no loss, Jagdish Shettar will himself lose election, Hubballii has always voted for BJP and all workers of BJP are united," Shah was quoted as saying by NDTV.

He also accused Congress of indulging in "appeasement politics".

Shah further stated that religion-based reservation is "unconstitutional" and questioned the Congress' plan to implement reservation for Muslims while reducing someone else's reservation.

"...Religion-based reservation is unconstitutional. Congress leaders are saying that they'll implement reservation for Muslims, but then, whose reservation will they reduce...," Shah said.

He also criticised Rahul Gandhi's comments.

In response to a query, Shah said that 56 lakh farmers receive Rs 10,000 per year through direct benefit transfers and asked if Rahul Gandhi believes that they are all part of only two to three families.

The BJP leader stated that the ruling party contributed to Karnataka's comprehensive growth and the Modi government provided 140 per cent more funding through tax devolution and grant-in-aid in five years than the previous UPA government.

Karnataka received Rs 94,224 crore in tax devolution and grant-in-aid from 2009 to 2014 under Manmohan Singh's government, he said.

Shah added that Rs 2,26,418 crore was given between 2014 to 2019 under Modi government, which is 140 per cent more than what was given during Congress' term.

The BJP-led state government generated 55 lakh employment opportunities in nearly four years, Shah said.

Amit Shah cited BJP government's various initiatives in enhancing connectivity, infrastructure, and IT to advance the state.

He dismissed Rahul Gandhi's allegations that the BJP government ignores the common man.

Shah cited benefits of direct benefit transfer to farmers and expressed confidence that BJP would form the government with a clear majority.