"Siddaramaiah tried to scuttle our Nava Nirman Parivarthan yatra here by sponsoring the shutdown across the state, including the city of palaces. As the shutdown flopped, about 50,000 people came to the rally," asserted Shah at the Maharani College grounds here, about 140km from Bengaluru.



Unfazed by a two-hour delay in flagging off the yatra (journey) due to the shutdown and in the absence of public transport to enable the people reach the venue, Shah said the party's cadres and youth responded to the rally in a show of strength.

"Siddaramaiah and corruption go hand-in-hand as two sides of a coin. The fall of the Congress in the upcoming assembly election is imminent due to the failure of its policies and programmes," reiterated Shah.

"Like Shakuni, Siddaramaiah is cunning and ruthless and ambitious like Duryodhana who led Kauravas to defeat in the 18-day bloody war," recalled Shah.

Terming the ruling Congress government corrupt, malicious and oppressive, Shah called upon the people to root out the corrupt party in the ensuing assembly poll, due in late April-early May.

Shah also dared Siddaramaiah from stopping the BJP from forming the next government in the southern state after the poll.