Karnataka: BJP says it expects a 'quantum jump' in the Old Mysore region

Faced with the Congress’s campaign in Karnataka, after the party announced 200 free electricity units if voted to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that it is expecting a “quantum jump” in the Old Mysore region. Party general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh said in Delhi on Thursday that its key strategy is to win over Vokkaliga votes in the region.

Traditionally, the Old Mysuru region, where the Janata Dal (Secular) holds considerable sway has been a weak spot for the BJP; the Congress, too, has performed better in the region in the last few years.

Yet the party believes that its efforts in the region will bear fruit. “We will make a quantum jump in our tally in the region and retain power in the state with a big majority,” said Singh.The party has been holding meetings in the region, and has recently sent in party president JP Nadda as well as union home minister Amit Shah to meet leaders across mutts that have considerable following.

In addition to the JD(S) vote base, the Congress has also found positive response with party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra drawing unprecedented crowds. Singh, however, said that that is not a cause for worry for the party, and the proof of that is in the local polls in Chamarajanagar, which falls in Old Mysore, and Bijapur.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP’s tally in the region, which accounts for over nearly 64 assembly seats outside Bengaluru, was in single digit last time. However, the party had won over 25 of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019.

Addressing criticisms that the party was sidelining former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, Singh said that the BJP was a “united house” unlike the Congress which he called a “divided house”, with former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state party chief DK Shivakumar usually found taking contradictory stands. He added that chief minister BS Bommai enjoys a clean image. He added that the party’s target in the upcoming elections is to win 150 seats in the 224-member assembly.