BJP workers in state erupt in joy over election results

The BJP’s sweep in the Uttar Pradesh polls has put the Karnataka unit of the party in an upbeat mood, while the Congress went on the defensive on Saturday.

As soon as trends of the results in the five states were out, BJP workers went into celebratory mood. Scenes of the functionaries dancing, bursting crackers and congratulating each other were witnessed outside the BJP state office in Malleswaram.

Elections to the state Assembly is just a little over an year away and the BJP performance up north has come as a boost for functionaries to work with more vigour for the party’s victory. The party is planning to keep its charges of corruption and maladministration against the government going, with a hope to unnerve the ruling Congress with a good show in the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls.

“The BJP’s performance in the five states, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has come as a booster for the state unit. We are confident of winning more than 150 seats next year. We have already identified 175 winning candidates for the polls,” Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.

He said party national president Amit Shah will have the final say in the distribution of party tickets next year. “The national president will conduct a survey before finalising the candidates,” he said.

Yeddyurappa rubbished Congress’ charges that the BJP had wooed the minorities by offering them various sops. “It is a vote in favour of development programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he added.

In his reaction, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the BJP had won in Uttar Pradesh by playing the “Hindu card”. “There was no Modi wave. The BJP played with the sentiments of the people by raising issues like burial grounds. If there was a Modi wave, why did it not have any effect in Punjab and Goa?” Siddaramaiah asked.

Siddaramaiah said Modi had attended several election rallies in Punjab and had repeatedly raised the I-T raids on Ramesh Jarkiholi’s residence (minister in Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet), but it had not influenced the voters.

He said the people of Karnataka will not be swayed by the UP election results. “The people of the state have not forgotten the misrule of the BJP regime,” he said. It will also have no bearing on the bypolls in the state next month, he added.

JD(S) leader and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda said the victory in UP will prompt BJP central leaders to set their eyes on Karnataka and work out a poll strategy. He said it will be interesting to see whether Siddaramaiah will make any announcement in the state budget to woo voters.