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In his rallies at Haveri, Tumkur and Mysore, Gandhi on the second leg of his tour for the May 5 assembly polls, said the BJP was more preoccupied with internal squabbles and its leaders fought among themselves for money.

Raising the pitch against the ruling BJP, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today accused it of having created "a world record" in corruption and said there was no functional government in Karnataka.

In his rallies at Haveri, Tumkur and Mysore, Gandhi on the second leg of his tour for the May 5 assembly polls, said the BJP was more preoccupied with internal squabbles and its leaders fought among themselves for money.

"On the issue of corruption, Karnataka government has created a world record," he said, stepping up the offensive he launched against BJP in his first leg of tour on April 23.

Accusing the BJP of "looting" public money, he said "Congress kahti hai, aapka paisa aapke haath aur BJP kahti hai aapka paisa hamare paas" (Congress says your money, your hands and BJP says your money, with us)

The BJP forgot about people’s welfare, Gandhi said and posed to the gathering, "Do you want such a government?" Seeking to take the sting out of the BJP’s attack on the UPA on the issue of graft at the Centre, Gandhi asked, "did not corruption in the state come to their attention." The Congress leader also spoke about the "Bellary brothers", apparently alluding to the Reddy brothers-- mining barons Janardhana and Karunakara--and said BJP came to power in the 2008 Assembly polls on the basis of their money.

They (Reddy brothers) exploited iron ore resources and exported it to China, enriching themselves, thereby becoming influential, he said, adding, "It was the Bellary government, not BJP government."

He said Bangalore was a world brand due to IT sector but the last eight to nine years of rule by BJP-JDS coalition and subsequently by BJP had seen it lose its status.

Castigating the BJP for its lack of governance, he said, "Karnataka has everything. Only there is no government".

Gandhi also said being corruption-free is a pre-requisite to be in Congress. "We have said that if you are in Congress, you have to be clean and corruption free or you have no room in Congress", he said.