Shah plays down BJP setback in by-elections

BJP president Amit Shah, on Wednesday, sought to play down the reverses suffered by the party in the Assembly byelections in some states.

Noting that there were several reasons for the setback, Shah said, “Our adversaries, particularly Congress, are talking about the loss suffered by the BJP in the by-elections. But they don’t see our splendid achievement of opening our account in Assam and making significant gains in West Bengal.”

The BJP chief was speaking after performing ‘bhoomi pooja’ for the construction of a memorial for the martyrs who laid down their lives fighting the Razakars in May 1948 during the Nizam’s rule and for installing a statue of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel at Gorta village in Basavakalyan taluk.

He asked partymen not to be despondent about the by-election results as the BJP’s victory in the coming elections to four state assemblies “was certain  and no one can stop it.”

After making the country free of the Congress in the recent parliamentary elections, it is time to repeat the same in the states, he said. This would begin with the October 15 elections to the assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra, Shah said.

He said, “The writing is on the wall for the Congress in Haryana and Maharashtra. There is hardly any doubt about BJP winning these states comfortably. People are yearning for a change. The results will be announced on October 19 and BJP workers should be prepared to celebrate,” he said.

Hailing the people of the State for helping in the BJP’s task of “liberating the country from the menace of Congress,” Shah appealed to them to bring the party back to power in the next Assembly elections.

“Yeddyurappa’s government was doing extremely well on the front of development and social welfare. But due to certain conspiracies, the government had to fall,” Shah remarked.
BJP State president Pralhad Joshi, Yeddyurappa, Union Ministers H N Ananth Kumar and G M Siddeshwara were among those present.