‘Outcome will not affect K’taka polls’
SPLIT OPINION Whille Congress chief is confident of win in polls next year, BJP state chief says Guj, HP results will ensure success
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday the results of the Gujarat assembly polls will not impact the assembly elections in the state, due early next year.
“The election results of one state will not have an effect on the election of another state. The issues will be different. Whatever may the Gujarat poll results be, it will have no impact on Karnataka,” he told reporters in Yadgir, in the northern part of the state.
The Congress leader also claimed that by ensuring the party’s victory, Karnataka would give the “first gift” to newly-appointed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his leadership.
Claiming that there was no anti-incumbency against his government, Siddaramaiah, the Congress would have got to know about it in the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls, which the party won by big margins.
“I am sure that in 2018, we will come back to power 100%,” he added. The Congress has already announced that Siddaramaiah will be its CM candidate in the Karnataka polls.
Expressing doubts about the BJP’s performance in Gujarat, despite anti-incumbency and a strong undercurrent against it, the CM said the results lent credence to doubts about the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Raising apprehensions that the EVMs could be tampered with, Siddaramaiah had recently demanded the use of ballot papers in the state.
The BJP however, was upbeat about wresting power from the Congress after its dual victory on Monday. BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa expressed confidence that the “massive victory” of the party will also reflect in the elections of the southern state, where assembly polls are due in April-May next year.
“The election results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have shown that people have once again supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his pro-poor policies,” he told reporters at the party office here.
The people of Himachal Pradesh have overthrown the “corrupt” Congress government and have chosen the BJP, the former CM said.
“Karnataka will also similarly throw out corrupt Congress government in the state in the 2018 elections. Gujarat elections will have a positive impact over Karnataka’s elections too,” he claimed.
The BJP came to power in the state on its own in 2008 but lost to the Congress in May 2013 assembly elections following a split in the state leadership in 2012 when Yeddyurappa quit the party and formed the Karnataka Janata Paksha. He subsequently rejoined the BJP.
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