AAP will put up a good show in Karnataka Assembly election: Bhagwant Mann

Voters should be cautious while voting for Congress as its MLAs could be easily poached by BJP if it falls short of the required seats, said Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann expressed confidence that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will put up a good show in the Karnataka Assembly election.

The prospects of AAP were not decided by surveys but by voters, he said.

Voters should be cautious while voting for Congress as its MLAs could be easily poached by BJP if it falls short of the required seats for a majority in the Assembly election, he said.
Speaking to reporters at the airport here on Wednesday Mann said, this is AAP's first election after being recognised by Election Commission as a national party. "People from different states have accepted our corruption-free administration resulting in us winning 13 seats in Gujarat and two in Goa.

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During the roadshow conducted at Hubballi and Ron on Tuesday, people had come voluntarily which shows that they are fed up with the old system and need change. People are aware of the pro-people programmes of AAP when it comes to education, health, employment, and others, he said.

"We hope to perform well in Karnataka," he said.

AAP Chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been implementing various programmes for people but those were blocked by Lieutenant Governor. Governors of Opposition-ruled states were writing letters to chief ministers, but the same wasn't the thing with BJP-ruled states, Mann alleged.

If BJP doesn't win the election, it gets the majority in the by-election by poaching MLAs of Congress, hence voters should rethink before voting for the grand old party, he said.

In a democracy, elected representatives need to take a decision and not be selected, he added.

AAP acted tough against corruption in Punjab and even a minister was arrested. More than 350 officials and politicians were in prison for corruption while no such action has been taken in Karnataka wherein four note-counting machines were found in the residence of a minister, he said.

Mann said Supreme Court judges conducting a press meet shows the state of affairs in the country. BJP has misused government agencies to harass the Opposition. Delhi former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia too was arrested and harassed, but there was no evidence against him.

If BJP was confident of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave, it should face elections through ballot instead of EVMs, he said.