Ahead of Karnataka elections, Amit Shah is touring the state (PTI)
Highlights
- "In a slip of tongue, I said the Yeddyurappa govt is corrupt": Amit Shah
- Second time Amit Shah made a blooper on Mr Yeddyurappa's name
- Elections in Karnataka on May 12, results will be out on May 15
BJP president Amit Shah today spoke for the first time on his much-talked about slip in Karnataka, which embarrassed his party's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, and turned it around to take aim at the Congress.
"In a slip of tongue, I said that the Yeddyurappa government is corrupt instead of Siddaramaiah's, and the entire Congress party started to rejoice. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that I might have made a mistake but the people of Karnataka will not," the BJP chief said, speaking to reporters in Mysuru, where he is campaigning today for the May 12 state election.
Amit Shah had stopped to speak to reporters in the
middle of a hectic tour of Mysuru, where he made several stops including the Ambavilas Palace or Mysore Palace, home to the former royal family.
On Tuesday,
Amit Shah had said: "Recently a retired Supreme Court judge said if there was ever a competition of the most corrupt government then the Yeddyurappa government is number one..."
Mr Yeddyurappa was sitting next to him. Then Karnataka BJP leader Prahlad Joshi was seen whispering something to
Amit Shah, who quickly corrected himself.
Mr Yeddyurappa was chief minister of the first BJP government in Karnataka from 2008. He was forced to step down in August 2011 in a haze of corruption allegations by Karnataka's ombudsman or Lokayukta Santosh Hegde. He was accused in a mining scam. In 2016, he was acquitted of charges of accepting kickbacks worth Rs. 40 crores.
This was the second time Amit Shah made a blooper like this on Mr Yeddyurappa's name.
After the polls on May 12, the results will be out on May 15.