New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday hit out at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for celebrating B.S. Yeddyurappa's resignation in Karnataka as a "victory", saying the mandate was to get rid of Siddaramaiah and claimed that such coalition will not last long.

"If someone is seeing its victory in defeat, than who can stop him. The BJP has already won the Karnataka elections and the people of the state have clearly given their mandate to get rid of Congress," he said at a programme of India TV.

He said that Gandhi has started a new tradition of celebration even after party's defeat.

"He (Gandhi) has propounded a new theory that how to see a win even if his party is defeated. They won in nine Lok Sabha by-polls and they celebrate it as their victory but why they forget that we have snatched 11 states from them," he said.

The BJP chief said that the BJP will not make any efforts to topple the government in Karnataka.

"Such government will not last long in the state. Congress leaders have themselves not accepted their alliance with JD-S," he said.

He said that the BJP had claimed of winning 130 seats in Karnataka elections but the number of seats won was not less.

"It is an achievement for us. We wanted to expose the Congress government before Karnataka and I believe we have succeeded in that. We had approached the people of Karnataka with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's four years' achievements and the way Siddaramaiah government had been exploiting the state and we emerged victorious," he said.

Responding to allegations of horse-trading by the opposition leaders in Karnataka, Shah said: "This would not have been the result had we offered to bribe and buy the MLAs of other parties."

Over Gandhi's allegations that the Modi government has waived off the loans of industrialists, he said: "Rahul Gandhi should name one businessman whose loans we have waived off, or he should accept that he misleads the people of the country."

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Beirut: A new wave of Israeli airstrikes targeted Beirut and its southern suburbs, escalating the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah. The attacks follow a deadly assault the previous day that left 29 dead and 66 injured in the Lebanese capital.

On Sunday, the Israeli military announced that it had carried out "intelligence-based strikes" against Hezbollah command centers in Beirut's southern neighborhoods, including Haret Hreik, Burj Barajneh, and Hadath, as reported by Xinhua news agency. Within just 30 minutes, local TV station al-Jadeed documented 12 airstrikes in the area.

Videos shared online captured plumes of dense black smoke rising from the targeted suburbs, indicating the intensity of the bombardment. Prior to the strikes, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee used social media to warn residents to evacuate several buildings in the southern part of the city.

The fresh wave of airstrikes follows a Saturday attack on an eight-storey residential building in Beirut’s Basta Fawka neighborhood. While Israeli reports suggested the target was a senior Hezbollah official, Lebanese lawmaker and Hezbollah member Amin Sherri denied any political or military figures were present in the building during the assault.

In retaliation, Hezbollah declared it had destroyed five Israeli Merkava tanks in southern Lebanon using guided missiles on Sunday. The group also claimed to have launched attacks on several locations in northern Israel, including Kerem ben Zimra and Kfar Blum.

The hostilities have intensified since September 23, with Israeli forces increasing airstrikes on Lebanon and launching a ground offensive across the northern border in early October.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry released figures on Sunday indicating that Israeli airstrikes have resulted in 3,754 deaths and 15,626 injuries since the conflict reignited on October 8, 2023.