Congress will buck trend in state, will retain power, says CM

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he is confident of breaking the trend of the ruling party being unable to retain power for the second term in Karnataka in the past three decades.

“I am confident of breaking this trend. The Congress will come back to power in Karnataka in the next Assembly elections,” he said in an interview to NDTV. No ruling party has been able to retain power for the second term in Karnataka since 1985. Siddaramaiah was replying to a question whether the Congress will be able to break the trend in the next election.

He further said that the BJP has no vision for the state. People will neither forget nor will they forgive the saffron party for its misrule between 2008 and 2013, he said.

On the issue of Hindi signage by Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, he said he is against the Centre imposing Hindi on the state. The Centre had recently written to the state government, asking it to use Hindi signage at Metro stations. But none of the neighbouring states of Karnataka is using Hindi. “Hindi is not the national language...I don’t resent Hindi, but I am against the Centre imposing it on states,” he stated.

He defended himself on the issue of a separate state flag, and claimed that the Constitution of India does not impose any restrictions on the states having their own flags. “There is nothing wrong in the states having separate flags, but the national flag should always fly high,” he added.