DAVANGERE/CHITRADURGA: Karnataka BJP general secretary Mahesh Tenginkayi on Wednesday claimed that the party will win 13-15 seats in the upcoming Legislative Council polls from local bodies. Elections for 25 seats are set to be held on December 10.
Addressing media persons, he said that the party, which won only six seats last time, will bolster its tally. “There is no doubt that the 45,000 gram panchayat members, who are also BJP grassroots workers, will ensure the victory of party candidates in the elections. The Jan Swaraj Yatra (rally), to be held from November 18 to 21, will mobilise GP members and ensure that the convention helps in the victory of party candidates,” he added.
The Jan Swaraj Yatra will be led by four teams which will tour different parts of the state. The first team, comprising state BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, Union minister Bhagavant Khuba, state ministers V Somanna, Araga Jnanendra and Murugesh Nirani will tour the six districts of Kalyana-Karnataka.
The second team will be led by former CM B S Yediyurappa, Union minister Pralhad Joshi, state ministers B Sriramulu and Govinda Karjol. They will tour the eight districts of Kittur Karnataka. The third team will have Union minister Shobha Karandlaje, former Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda, ministers K S Eshwarappa, R Ashoka, S T Somashekar and Halappa Achar. They will cover nine districts in Old Mysuru Region.
The fourth team with Union Minister A Narayanaswamy, former CM Jagadish Shettar, ministers Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Byrathi Basavaraj and Gopalaiah, and BJP vice-president B Y Vijayendra will tour the remaining seven districts of Davangere-Chitradurga (Nov 18), Tumakuru-Ramanagara (Nov 19), Kolar-Chikkaballapur (No -20) and Bengaluru Rural-Bengaluru City (Nov 21).
On the selection of candidates for the elections, Mahesh said five teams have been formed for the purpose. “The teams collected opinion from elected local body members and submitted them to party state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, who has forwarded the report on potential candidates to the party top brass, which will finalise the list within a couple of days.Earlier, a meeting of party office-bearers and workers in connection with the Jan Swaraj Yatra was also held.