HUBBALLI: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai looks confident of winning the State as much as retaining his own constituency, Shiggaon. The reason behind his confidence, he feels, is the performance of the BJP government in the State and how it brought changes despite addressing emergencies caused by the pandemic and natural calamities. In an interview with The New Indian Express, Bommai cited reasons for the BJP retaining power in the State.
Excerpts below:
What is the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the State BJP government while seeking votes during this election?
On three main issues, our government stands out from other previous governments as the past four-five years were a tumultuous period for the State. First, handling of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Karnataka acted quite differently using technology to address the health emergency, whether it was tackling issues related to ICU beds, oxygen supply, and so on and so forth.
Secondly, addressing the problem of floods. The flood during our tenure was quite peculiar because it was generated due to excess rainfall across the State. But our government handled with more efficiently and also distributed compensation towards the loss of properties and crops, which was the highest ever in the history of the State.
The third one was the economic recovery in the post-pandemic era. Going by the unrest caused by Covid, it would have taken four to five years to bring back the economy on track, but our government did it within two years. As a result, Karnataka tops the nation in attracting FDI and also in other economic indicators. Also, unusual growth is seen in the building of economic and social infrastructure.
It is agreeable the State has seen developments infrastructure-wise. But, why the major parts of the Northern part of the State still are underdeveloped?
I can emphatically say it was due to the bad administration of previous governments. Efforts were made here and there but not comprehensive ones. Though important Congress leaders from the region were in power for decades, no concrete policies and programmes were framed to address the regional imbalance. But the BJP governments, in the past too, have done far more to address the issue. In the past three-four year noticeable changes are brought and the region is slowly catching up with other parts of the State.
The scene in your constituency looks in favour of you because of your connection with the people. But what is the real picture of the entire Karnataka?
The scene in my constituency is the same across the State and is in favour of the BJP. Moreover, we don't look at compartmentalising the constituency and region. Efforts are being made to ensure the victory of the party candidates everywhere. We have no doubt about retaining the power with a sizable majority.
The Congress party is continuously targeting the BJP government here on the corruption issue and it looks like it's sticking. How do you see the issue affecting the election prospects?
It is a sinister campaign launched by the Congress party. All allegations, including 40 per cent commission, they are levelling are baseless. I myself asked the contractors' association president to furnish the documents on what particular cases the bribe was sought. But they have no proof to corroborate their allegation. For making false allegations, an arrest warrant was issued against the contractors' association president. On the contrary, there are serious corruption charges against the previous Congress government and even its top leaders. These are all under investigation by reliable agencies. So, people have understood the tactics of the Congress leader behind this propaganda and they will never buy their allegations.
Many pre-poll surveys have shown the Congress party is ahead of BJP, some have even given the majority to the grand old party. How do you see the outcome of these surveys?
With all due respect to the findings of these surveys, I say, nobody can find the real mood of the public, they just give an indication. Let these surveys be in favour of us or against us, we don't take them seriously but keep working on our poll strategies. Moreover, the outcomes of the recent surveys were months old. Of late, the picture has completely changed on the ground and the public mood is in favour of the BJP. So there is no doubt about the party coming back to power.