People feel insulted by subversion of mandate, says PM

NEWDELHI/RANCHI:PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused the Congress and its allies of “stealing and subverting” the people’s mandate in Karnataka, and asked voters to elect a stable Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Jharkhand with an absolute majority.

After the BJP posted an impressive win in the Karnataka bypolls and ended speculation over the stability of the BS Yediyurappa

government, Modi said at an election campaign in Jharkhand that voters had punished the Congress for “manipulating the mandate” that people had given to his party. “The Congress and its allies subverted the mandate in Karnataka, stabbed it in the back...the Congress stole the mandate through the back door, and now people have punished it and taught it a lesson,” he told a rally in Barhi.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the assembly, but the

Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) forged a post-poll alliance to keep it out of power.

Addressing another rally in Bokaro, the PM called the by-elections to 15 assembly seats in Karnataka “extraordinary”. “There are three messages for Jharkhand and other states in the bypoll outcome. The first is that people want a stable government. Second, people feel insulted by subversion of their mandate and teach those guilty a lesson. Third, they trust only BJP can give a government that can deliver,” he said. “Public anger over betrayal of mandate exploded today. It is a victory of public mandate...a victory for democracy,” he said.

Separately, BJP chief Amit Shah greeted Karnataka CM Yeddiyurappa for the party’s impressive showing. He assured that the ruling BJP will “continue to transform” the southern state under PM Modi’s guidance.

P Muralidhar Rao, the party’s national general secretary and incharge of Karnataka, said the result was an indication of the party now being in its final phase of growth in the state. He also defended rebels from the Congress and JD(S) joining the BJP, and said their move was in “line with what the people wanted”.

“Leaders leaving their parties to join the BJP was not seen as a negative move by the public. In the last four months, there has been a turnaround; irrespective of their earlier political affiliations and preference, there is an overwhelming narrative that BJP is the only party that can offer a stable government in the state,” Rao told HT.

The bypolls were held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAS, whose resignation led to the collapse of the 14-month-old HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July. The BJP, led by Yediyurappa as chief minister, then came to power. The bypoll results, Rao asserted, proved the BJP’S presence in Karnataka was not limited to a few pockets, and the party has been able to challenge the JD(S) and Congress in what were considered as their citadels.

Of the 11 candidates who were re-elected, vote shares of eight candidates increased compared to the 2018 polls.