Amit Shah slams Siddaramaiah in his home turf, says his was the most corrupt govt in India

Union home minister Amit Shah slammed Karnataka's opposition leader Siddaramaiah at a rally in his home constituency Varuna in Mysuru on Tuesday. The Siddarmaiah-led Congress regime, he alleged, was the most corrupt in the entire country.

The Congress, Shah said, had insulted Lingayats by removing Veerendra Patil, a tall leader from the community. "He (Siddaramaiah) said that Lingayats have indulged in corruption here. This is an insult to the entire community," he said, refusing to acknowledge the Congress veteran's clarification that his recent remarks were targeted at Bommai. Both the BJP and the Congress have been vying with each other to woo the Lingayats, the most numerous community in the state. While the BJP has Lingayat leader BS Yediyurappa in its ranks, the party lost a senior member when Jagadish Shettar defected to the Congress last month following denial of a ticket.

The BJP had increased the Lingayat and Vokkaliga reservation quota by 2% each, removing the Muslim community's 4% reservation under the other backward classes (OBC) category. The increase is on hold, though, amid a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Shah said the Congress wants to restore Muslim reservation but the BJP will never allow it, as it is unconstitutional. "We will always make sure that only the deserving people get this benefit. Unlike Congress, we don't believe in vote-bank politics," he said, addressing a rally in Hanur later in the day.