I Made a Mistake, Voters Won’t: Amit Shah on ‘Most Corrupt’ Gaffe

In a major faux pas, Amit Shah had called Yeddyurappa – instead of Siddaramaiah – “the most corrupt”.

In a major faux pas, Amit Shah called Yeddyurappa – instead of Siddaramaiah – ‘most corrupt’.

(Photo: PTI)

In a major gaffe earlier this week, Amit Shah called BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa – instead of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah – “the most corrupt”. The Congress promptly took a cue from his embarrassing faux pas – and said the BJP national president was indeed right.

Now, Shah has hit back again. “In a slip of tongue, I said that Yeddyurappa government is corrupt instead of Siddaramaiah’s – and the entire Congress party started to rejoice”, he said in Mysuru, while campaigning for the upcoming polls.

“I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that I might have made a mistake but the people of Karnataka will not”, he retorted.

The Embarrassing Mix-Up of Names

Moments after the dates for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 were announced on Tuesday, 27 March, Shah held a press conference to sound the poll bugle in the Congress-ruled state. It was here that Shah mixed up the name of Siddaramaiah with that of Yeddyurappa, the saffron party’s CM candidate for the state. He said:

A retired Supreme Court judge recently said that if there is a contest for the most corrupt of all, then Yeddyurappa government will be ranked number one position in the category.

Amit Shah

Shah, however, corrected himself immediately to say that the Siddaramaiah government will be ranked number one in a contest for the most corrupt.

Not a Mistake, It is the Truth: Siddaramaiah

Responding to the BJP national president’s slip of tongue, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said, “It’s not a mistake, it’s the truth. At last he spoke the truth.”

Siddaramaiah also posted Shah’s gaffe on Twitter with the hashtag #ShahofLies.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi also posted the faux pas by Amit Shah on his Twitter account, calling it a ‘sneak peak of our top campaign video’.

Not His First Such Gaffe

However, this is not the first time he has mixed up the two names. In the past, while attacking the Siddaramaiah government, he ended up demanding answers from Yeddyurappa instead of Siddaramaiah.

‘Freudian Slip,’ Says Twitter

Twitterati was quick to call out Shah’s gaffe.