‘What Siddarmaiah has done now was rejected by UPA’ says Amit Shah on Lingayat row

Siddarmaiah government in Karnataka has resorted to all tactics to gain an edge over the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls. The government has decided to recommend the Lingayat community for a minority religion status to the centre. The move has caught the attention of the entire nation and has raised hopes for the Congress party about its prospects in the elections.

The national president of the BJP, Amit Shah in an interview to Navika Kumar of Times Now has made some remarks on the move by Congress government in Karnataka. He said that the people were aware that it is an election move. He further questioned as to why this was not done when both state and centre had Congress governments in 2013. The BJP president also remarked that the UPA government had rejected the proposal when they were in power.

https://twitter.com/TimesNow/status/976486845214162946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
When asked about fears of losing Lingayat votes, Amit Shah said that Yeddyurappa was not fielded as a CM candidate because of his caste identity. He added that Yeddyurappa was a declared as a CM candidate because he was a senior leader and former CM of Karnataka. He said that the Congress move was an example of Caste politics. One of the Congress ministers, Shamanur Shivashankarappa had visited New Delhi in 2013 to put forward the demand in New Delhi, but nothing had come out of the visit.

Thus it appears, that the BJP president is not scared to confront the matter in upcoming elections.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia