Modi should be installed as PM to give befitting reply to terrorism, Pak: Amit Shah
Bengaluru: BJP President Amit Shah Saturday said Narendra Modi should be installed as the Prime Minister once again to secure the country and to give a "befitting" reply to terrorism and Pakistan.
Creating a saffron surge, Shah held a massive road show at Bhadravathi in Shimogga, campaigning for party candidate B Y Raghavendra, son of Karnataka BJP President and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Raghavendra is pitted against former legislator Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S), who is the son of former Chief Minister S Bangarappa.
"This election is not only about making Raghavendra Member of Parliament, but to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister," Shah said at the end of road show.
"Why should we make Narendra Modi Prime Minister?, to secure the country, to give a befitting reply to terrorism and Pakistan.
In order to give a befitting reply to Pakistan, people of Shimogga will have to press the ballot button adjacent to the Lotus symbol and Raghavendra's name," he said.
Noting that he too was facing election from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat on April 23, Shah said he had come to campaign for Raghavendra to ensure his victory.
Hundreds of enthusiastic BJP workers cheered the BJP chief chanting "Modi, Modi" as the "Rath," a modified vehicle, covered little more than one and half kilometre distance with Raghavendra, among others, accompanying him.
Thousands of people had gathered all along the route showering flower petals on Shah as the vehicle wound its way in a delirious atmosphere.
The road show that began with party workers greeting Shah with a loud cheer in favor of BJP, lasted about 40 minutes.
Ahead of the "rath," BJP supporters sporting saffron caps and holding cutouts, placards and party flags danced to the drum beats, as slogans of 'Modi Modi' rent the air.
Raghavendra, who is a sitting MP from Shimogga had defeated Madhu Bangarappa, joint candidate of ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in the by-polls held in November last year.
While, Raghavendra is banking on Modi wave along with his father's name and his work as MP, Madhu too is relying on his late father's legacy, support of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition, andon Ediga community, to which he belongs to.
Ediga community has considerable presence in Shimogga.
Out of eight assembly segments in Shimogga, BJP had won 7 and Congress only one in Bhadravathi during the 2018 assembly polls. Madhu had lost to his own brother Kumar Bangarappa of BJP during 2018 assembly polls from Soraba constituency.
Raghavendra's father and Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Yeddyurappa is the BJP legislator from Shikaripura constituency. There are 12 candidate in the fray in Shimogga that would go to polls on April 23.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
