Hours after BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa resigned from his position as Chairman of the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited on Friday, March 3, Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a public meeting in Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural, slamming opposition parties for corruption and urging people to vote for the BJP in the upcoming elections.
Virupakshappa's resignation came after his son, V Prashant Madal, was arrested by the Karnataka Lokayukta while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh at his father's office in Bengaluru. The Lokayukta police had also recovered more than Rs six crore of unaccounted money from Prashanth’s residence. The incident comes a week after Amit Shah had expressed his confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former CM Yediyurappa, stating that their leadership would bring about a corruption-free Karnataka and elevate it to the top spot among the southern states.
Despite that Shah criticised opposition parties, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) for their dynastic politics and corruption, claiming that only the BJP government can work for the betterment of the people under the leadership of PM Modi. “You need to decide if you need to choose a BJP govt that banned Popular Front of India or Congress which favours terrorists for the vote bank. Dynastic parties can't work for the development and the poor people of Karnataka.”
He also warned against voting for JD(S), "When you vote for JD(S) they, later, ally with Congress. It results in the rule of the Congress party. Make BJP number one in this region, and we will transform Bengaluru and South Karnataka," he said.
Earlier on Friday, Shah visited Bidar to launch the 'Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra' and inaugurate several projects. While addressing the party members in Bidar, Shah claimed that the Congress’s defeat in the North-Eastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland is so severe that the party is no longer visible even if one searches for it with binoculars. With the Congress party failing to secure a single seat in Nagaland and winning only four seats in Tripura and three seats in Meghalaya, Shah said that the party has no chance of gaining power in Karnataka. According to him, the "Modi Magic'' will continue to work across India, including in the North-East, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka.
This marked his fifth visit to poll-bound Karnataka this year.