BENGALURU: State Congress president DK Shivakumar on Wednesday expressed confidence in the party bagging 141 seats in the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka. He also said that the BJP would win a mere 65-70 seats.
Comparing BJP first list of 189 candidates with Congress first list of 166 candidates, Shivakumar said thousands of BJP workers will join the Congress soon.
When asked if “disgruntled” BJP leaders were in touch with him, the Kanakapura MLA maintained that he is not going to talk to anyone at present as scores of BJP leaders are resigning from the party.
Shivakumar clarified that his younger brother and Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh will not contest from the Padmanabhanagar Assembly seat against Revenue Minister R Ashoka.
The BJP has fielded Ashoka from two constituencies — Padmanabhanagara and Kanakapura, where he will face Shivakumar.
“There is pressure that Suresh should contest from Padmanabhanagar as the party has already declared Raghunath Naidu as its candidate,” Shivakumar said.
He said there is no need for him to enter into an understanding with anyone. “In the last election, JDS fielded a candidate from the Naidu community. We fielded a Vokkaliga. But our strategy did not work,” he said.