Amit Shah slips, calls Yeddyurappa 'most corrupt' ever

Bengaluru: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday embarrassed BS Yeddyurappa, party’s chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka, with a slip of tongue by calling his government the 'most corrupt' ever.

Though, Shah quickly realised his gaffe and corrected himself, the video clip soon went viral on social media, mostly by the supporters of Congress.

While rattling allegations against Siddaramaiah’s government at a meeting in Karnataka's Davanagere, Amit Shah 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..."

Yeddyurappa who was sitting next to him looked redfaced.

Immediately, another leader sitting next to Shah whispered correction into his ear. Following this, Shah corrected himself and repeated, “Siddaramaiah is the most corrupt”.

Within minutes, Congress reacted, tweeting and retweeting the video.

"The Truth can never be Suppressed. Even Amit Shah agrees that Yeddyurappa led the Most Corrupt Government ever," tweeted the handle of the Karnataka Congress.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shared the clip and tweeted “The #ShahOfLies finally speaks truth.”

Divya Spandana Ramya, social media head of Congress, also took a jibe a Amit Shah and posted, “Who knew @AmitShah could also speak the truth- we all concur with you Amit ji @BSYBJP is the most corrupt!”

She also posted another video, without a date or location, saying: "This isn’t the first time btw (by the way)- what exactly are Amit Shah’s feelings towards Yedyurappa? All’s not good in the hood."

Yeddyurappa, who had led BJP to its first ever government in the state in the 2008 assembly polls, was forced to step down in August 2011 amid corruption allegations by Karnataka's Lokayukta Santosh Hegde in the Rs 40 crore bribe in Bellary illegal mining case.

In 2016, a special CBI Court acquitted Yeddyurappa, his two sons, son-in-law and nine others in the graft case.

The BJP has named the 75-year-old leader, who enjoys a strong support among the Lingayat community, as its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections scheduled for May 12.

With election dates being declared now, the campaign is all set to intensify in the southern state and the Congress campaign machinery may not leave any opportunity to throw this back whenever BJP leaders raise the issue of corruption.