Karnataka has a 'Dhai CM Sarkar': Amit Shah

BJP national president Amit Shah on Thursday dubbed the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition as “dhai CM sarkar” (government of two-and-a-half chief ministers), while launching a scathing attack specifically targeting Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and his pet crop loan waiver scheme. 

“It’s a strange situation in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy calls himself a clerk, Siddaramaiah is the super CM and G Parameshwara is half CM. This dhai CM sarkar can’t develop Karnataka. The Congress-JD(S) alliance is an example of what the mahagathbandhan has in store at the national level,” Shah said. 

The BJP chief was addressing Shakti Kendra chiefs of the Vokkaliga-dominated Kolar, Tumkur and Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha seats as part of the saffron party’s preparation for the upcoming polls.  

Shah went on to target Kumaraswamy in line with the saffron party’s strategy to do so, especially after the CM released a damning audio clip in which BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa is heard the son of a JD(S) legislator, causing much damage. 

“I’m surprised that Kumaraswamy says it is not the people of Karnataka, but Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who made him the CM. I want to ask the CM - is your commitment to the people or to the feet of Congress leaders?” Shah said. 

The functioning of the “unholy” Congress-JD(S) coalition, Shah said, was a reflection of the how the grand alliance at the national front will be. “Nobody is ready to accept one another as the leader. Even HD Deve Gowda wants to become the prime minister. An alliance that has no leader, no principles - will it do any good for India? They’re not able to even decide who the PM will be,” he said. 

Shah hailed the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme in which he said 13-15 crore farmers will receive Rs 6,000 in their bank account at a cost of Rs 75,000 crore every year. “Rahul Gandhi made fun of this and said farm loans should be waived. In Karnataka, farmers were promised a loan waiver of Rs 48,000 crore. But loans worth only Rs 1,600 crore have been waived. Farmers have been cheated,” Shah said.