Home Minister Amit Shah expressed confidence on Saturday that the BJP will win 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark in Karnataka assembly polls and asserted that its support base remains intact despite defection by some party leaders, noting that historically its rebels have not won and "this will prove true this time also".
In an interview during the India Today conclave, the minister said that the BJP will get 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark of 112 seats in the 224-member legislature. Karnataka assembly polls are scheduled for May 10.
He rejected the Congress' allegations of corruption against the BJP government in Karnataka as "baseless". They are not substantiated by any court and have been fabricated by the Congress to cover up corruption during its own regime, Shah claimed, accusing the opposition party of using Karnataka as its "ATM" when it was in power.
The Congress has no answers to its apathy towards Karnataka during its regime, he said, adding that when the Congress-led UPA was in power during 2009-14, the Centre released Rs 94,224 crores to the state.
Prime Minister Modi increased the amount to over Rs 2.26 lakh crore during 2014-19. The tax devolution and grant-in aid was Rs 22,000 crore but has been increased to Rs 75,000 crore, he added. Attacking the Congress, he said its government violated the Constitution by providing four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state.
The Constitution does not allow any kind of reservation on the basis of religious identity, he noted. The BJP government has scrapped this reservation and increased the quota for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vokkaligas and Lingayats, he said.
"The BJP govt in the state ended special favours that were aimed at political gains and brought the reservation categories in accordance with the Constitution," Shah said, according to a report by India Today.
Reacting to Shah's remarks, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the reservation to Muslims was given long back when the Supreme Court of India had not struck it down.
"This four per cent quota was given long back, when the Supreme Court did not strike it down," Kharge said, according to the India Today report.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a petition against scrapping the reservation for Muslims in the state. The next hearing is scheduled for April 25.
(With inputs from PTI)
