Karnataka Election Results: PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah wave to party workers (PTI)
Asserting that people have voted for a 'Congress-
mukt' Karnataka, BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday said his party's winning streak will continue and it will win all polls, including the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Addressing party workers after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Karnataka Assembly election, Mr Shah said it was the 15th election which his party had won since it came to power at the Centre and hit out at the Congress for expressing "happiness" at the results.
The tally of Congress has been reduced from 122 to 78 and Chief Minister Siddamaraiah lost from his traditional seat, and barely managed to win from another, he said, mocking the opposition party.
Half of the members of Siddamaraiah cabinet have lost, he said.
Mr Shah accused the Congress of using the "most immoral politics" by joining hands with outfits such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) which, he claimed, were involved in anti-national activities and a danger to the country's security.
"Congress used politics of caste to divide the people and tried to incite Dalits on SC/ST Act in Karnataka," Mr Shah said in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other senior leaders of the party.
The winning streak of the BJP will not stop and it will win all polls from now on and notch up a bigger victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls than it did in 2014, he said.
Mr Shah said the state has shown trust in Prime Minister Modi's "clean governance" and rejected the Congress' "divisive politics".
He accused the Congress of using money and muscle power in Karnataka and added that the party was rejected by people of the state.
Earlier, Mr Shah tweeted, "Like rest of the nation, the great land of Karnataka has shown its unwavering trust in PM Narendra Modi's clean, transparent and pro-development governance."
He congratulated the BJP's Karnataka unit and party's chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa for their "relentless" efforts.
"This mandate clearly reflects that Karnataka has rejected Congress's corruption, dynastic politics and divisive casteism," he said, thanking the people of Karnataka for making the BJP the single largest party.
The Congress and the JD(S) have joined hands and staked claim to form a government.
According to the Election Commission figures, the Congress has won or is leading in 78 seats, while the corresponding figure for the JD(S) was 37 and for the BJP it was 104.
The majority mark is 112 in the 222-member Assembly. Voting for two seats is yet to take place.
Mr Shah today dispatched three Union ministers, including Prakash Javadekar, JP Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan, to Karnataka to talk to potential allies to cobble up a majority for forming a government in the state.