Attributing his party’s success in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya Assembly elections to the efforts and charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP’s national leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the ‘Modi magic’ would work everywhere in India.
“The Congress has suffered such a humiliating defeat in the North-East that the party is not visible even if you search with a telescope. It got four seats in Tripura and three seats in Meghalaya. It could not open its account in Nagaland. There is no chance such a party would get power in Karnataka. Modi Magic would work everywhere in India, be it North-East, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Karnataka,” Mr. Shah said.
He was addressing a public meeting, in connection with the Karnataka Assembly elections, after flagging off the third rath yatra of the Vijay Sankalp Yatra at Basavakalyan in Bidar district on March 3. The meeting was attended by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa and Jagadish Shettar, BJP’s State unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Union Minister Bhagwanth Khuba, and Transport Minister B. Sriramulu.
As per the details shared by Mr. Shah, the Vijay Sankalp Yatra would cover a distance of 8,000 km, touching all the 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, and would include more than 100 road shows, around 100 public meetings, more than 600 roadside meetings, and more than 200 different community meetings. More than 50 national leaders of the BJP would participate in these public events.
The Union Home Minister said that the opposition Congress does not have any formula for electoral success.
“Congress leaders are left with no formula for victory. Under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the reputation of Congress is falling each day. They are raising slogans that Modi’s grave would be dug. AAP party leaders ask Modi to die. Nothing will happen to Modi as he enjoys the blessings of 130 crore Indians. The more you throw mire at Modi, the more the lotus blossoms,” Mr. Shah said.
To impress the dominant Lingayat community, Mr. Shah compared the way the Congress and BJP have treated leaders of the community.
“Indira Gandhi finished the future of (former Chief Minister) Nijalingappa. Rajiv Gandhi insulted (former Chief Minister) B. Veerendra Patil in an airport. Now, it’s Rahul’s turn. Only BJP can get respect for Karnataka. Modi attended (former Chief Minister) B.S. Yediyurappa’s birthday celebrations. The way Modi unfolded Yediyurappa’s life before the people and showed his respect worthy of emulation by all political parties as to how old, big and popular political leaders are treated,” Mr. Shah said.
Terming Basavanna as the founder of the world’s first parliament in the form of Anubhava Mantapa in Basavakalyan, Mr. Shah claimed that his party is following and propagating the principles of Basavanna. He claimed that BJP governments under B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai worked for the development of Basavakalyan, and recalled how Mr. Modi took Basavanna’s ideas to a global platform.
The entire town of Basavakalyan was decked with saffron flags, banners and welcome arches apart from cut-outs of Amit Shah and other BJP leaders.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Shah, along with Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Bommai, visited to Nanak Jhira Sahib shrine in Bidar. Section 144 was imposed around the shrine in the interest of security.
