BENGALURU: Revenue Minister R Ashoka on Thursday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has eaten into the Congress votes in Gujarat, will play a similar role in Karnataka in 2023 Assembly elections. “AAP snatching away Congress votes is happening in several states. AAP has become a ‘Congress drowning party’,” he said.
He said several Congress leaders, including incumbent MLAs, are a worried lot seeing the “sad state of the party” in Karnataka. “Many of them are in touch with me... they have 20-30 years of political career left. They have made up their mind to quit Congress and join BJP,” the minister said.
He said parties like AAP will replace the Congress which has no leadership.“Sonia Gandhi has been suffering from own problems, Rahul Gandhi has been forcefully brought in and AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge has no age on his side. If at all Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra worked in favour of the party it would have been reflected in the outcome of the Gujarat assembly polls. The only outcome is he sporting the beard”, Ashoka ridiculed.
On CLP leader Siddaramaiah claiming that the Gujarat polls results will not have any impact on Karnataka, Ashoka hit back asking, “Is Gujarat in Pakistan or Bangladesh?”