Voters backed BJP, it’s a betrayal of mandate: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Asserting that the Karnataka poll mandate was against the Congress, BJP president Amit Shah on Monday said the JD(S)-Congress combine, which is all set to come to power in the southern state, is an “unholy” alliance.

Mr Shah said the to-be-constituted JD(S)-Congress government in the state would be a “betrayal” of the people’s mandate, as they had voted out the Congress and even the JD(S) won those seats where it was in direct contest with the former ruling party in the state. The BJP president questioned the fate of the JD(S)-Congress government, saying it is already “destabilised” with the two parties forced to keep their MLAs “locked up in hotels” undemocratically. Taking a dig at the Congress over its “horse-trading” allegations against it, Mr Shah said it was false propaganda by the party (Congress) which had itself sold the entire stable.

“The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Karnataka. The Karnataka mandate was in favour of the BJP... Even the JD(S) won seats where the BJP’s organisation was not strong and its campaign was against the Congress... most of the Congress ministers lost, even the former CM (Siddharamaiah) lost one seat and won the other only by a slender margin... the mandate was totally against the Congress,” said Mr Shah.

The May 12 Karnataka Assembly polls threw up a hung verdict, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats, but short of a simple majority, and the Congress with 78 and JD(S) with 37 seats.

The BJP president said the Congress leaders kept citing the Goa and Manipur examples to stake claim for government formation in Karnataka, but their own leaders were busy relaxing in these states after the poll results rather than approaching the governor.

Amid criticism of the BJP for forming the government in Karnataka despite lacking a majority, Mr Shah said the BJP had approached the governor in Karnataka for government formation as neither the Congress or JD(S)  had decided to come together by then, and the party had honored the mandate, which was against the Congress.

He said if the Congress and JD(S) had not “locked up” their MLAs in hotels and allowed them to interact with voters, the people would have told them where they have to vote, suggesting that the BJP government would have survived then.

Mr Shah said the Congress had found a new way of portraying a defeat as victory and took a swipe at the rival party, saying that he hopes this new definition of victory continues till 2019, as it will benefit the BJP. He also asked the Congress to explain to the people of Karnataka why they were celebrating even when most of their ministers had lost the election.

“Only the Congress and JD(S) are celebrating, the people of Karnataka are not (celebrating),” he said.

Mr Shah said the Karnataka mandate was “encouraging” for the BJP, which had increased both its numbers and voteshare, and took a dig at the Congress by saying that it was “now starting to have faith in constitutional bodies like the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, and they even like EVMs”, and said he hoped it would continue even when the Congress loses.

He also claimed the Congress lawyer lied in the Supreme Court that BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa had sought seven days’ time from the governor to prove his majority in the House. He also accused the Congress of trying to influence the Supreme Court’s decision on Karnataka by releasing fake audio clips of BJP leaders offering bribes to its MLAs.