Bengaluru : As the state would go for general election for state assembly,  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked his party to win not less than 150 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls and launch a major offensive against the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government.

Rahul said winning 150 seats in Karnataka is not so hard for the Congress. Karnataka has always had the spirit of Congress. This is a natural Congress state, he said. “We shouldn’t aim to win the election with a close margin. It should be a decisive victory with not less than 150 seats,” he said.

Rahul described Karnataka as the nation’s  most corrupt state in Karnataka over BJP rule. Rahul was addressing to party leaders and workers at Bengaluru on Friday.

“PM Modi used to talk about corruption. Today, if he talks about corruption in Karnataka where there’s a 40 per cent commission government, then people of the state will laugh,” he said, referring to the Karnataka State Contractors Association going public with its complaint that they are forced to pay huge kickbacks. A Belagavi based, BJP supporter Civil Works contractor had levelled charges against Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa of asking 40pc commission to release his work done bills, recently.

Rahul said the BJP government in Karnataka was made using “financial resources and subterfuge”, referring to the 2019 defections.

“No BJP leader can go on stage and talk about economy, corruption and jobs,” Rahul said. “The biggest issue facing Karnataka and the country is unemployment. The economic collapse with price rise and unemployment means that our economy, which was our strength, is now our weakness,” he said.

Accusing the BJP of crony capitalism, Rahul said the Modi administration is taking money from the poor people to make a handful of people richer. “This is a financial transfer mechanism,” he said. “The idea is to divide the country, which is called polarisation, by making religions and castes fight.”

Rahul charged that the BJP cannot provide jobs even if it wants to because small businesses, which he said were India’s strength, have been destroyed because of demonetisation and “wrong” GST. “The damage is already caused and there’ll be more,” he said.