MYSURU: BJP will win a minimum of 130 seats and will bounce back to power if elections are held now, said state BJP president BY Vijayendra here on Sunday.
Declaring that he will not rest till he brings back BJP to power in the state, he said it will work as a double-engine government in coordination with the Centre.
Speaking at the inauguration of the BJP convention to mark the NDA government’s 11 years in office at the Centre, Vijayendra said he has accepted the challenge to see that BJP wins the highest number of seats in the Old Mysuru region. He claimed that BJP will sweep zilla and taluk panchayat polls.
He said that even as Congress is trying to broker peace and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has hinted that he has stepped out of the chief minister’s race, the Congress high command has made up its mind to seek the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Randeep Singh Surjewala (AICC General Secretary, Karnataka in-charge) has laid the foundation for leadership change by gathering the opinion of party legislators, he added. “Congress has also appointed Siddaramaiah as convener of the AICC Backwards Classes Advisory Committee to shift him to New Delhi. I am confident that Siddaramaiah’s position will be changed. He cannot escape and will have to resign in the next two months,” he said.
Vijayendra said Congress MLAs have openly expressed their displeasure and people are cursing the government over rising prices, corruption and poor governance. “We’re not bothered about who will become CM, but want a new government that will meet the aspirations of the people,” he added.
Condemning the vandalism of religious idols in Shivamogga, Vijayendra alleged that the Congress government’s minority appeasement politics is leading to such incidents. Hindu activist Praveen Shetty’s murder, attack on Udayagiri police station and Shivamogga incident are because of the Congress government’s protection of minorities, he charged.
Vijayendra claimed that he will continue as state BJP president because of his performance over the last 18 months. He said he has been able to corner the government in corruption cases, forcing minister Nagendra to resign and Siddaramaiah to surrender MUDA sites.
He criticised chief minister’s economic advisor Basavaraj Rayareddy for asking people to give up free rice to get good roads. He accused Siddaramaiah of using the Kantharaj commission report to divert the attention of the people. He said after spending Rs 167 crore on the caste census, the government has finally dumped it at the behest of the Congress High Command and is carrying out a fresh survey.
On BJP’s stand on the Mekedatu project, he said the Centre will approve it if the Tamil Nadu government agrees to it.