MYSURU: The Congress party’s announcement of freebies may help it dominate state’s politics from now on. For opposition BJP and JDS, countering this is a big challenge as the Lok Sabha elections are due next year.
The Grand Old Party’s five guarantees have been designed and announced not only to make a badly-needed comeback in the state but also to carry its victory march to four other states going to polls soon.
BJP’s religious and Hindutva issues were successfully countered by Congress with its five guarantees aimed at the economic empowerment of people belonging to different castes and communities across the state. This announcement of guarantees has not only disarmed the opposition parties but has also made their task to make a comeback very tough.
BJP, which has spread its base across the country, has a Herculean task of repeating its performance of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where it won 25 seats in the state, in the 2024 polls. Karnataka is considered BJP’s gateway to South India.
Political commentator Muzafar Asadi said that the ruling Congress should keep up its tempo of anti-incumbency against BJP and strive to contain corruption at all levels of administration. It should leave no stone unturned in delivering the benefits of five guarantees to the people.
At the same time, the BJP should regroup and work on its social engineering. The party should work towards bringing back Veerashiva-Lingayats and other castes that have distanced from it. The saffron party should resolve leadership issues and put an end to internal squabbling, he said. He said BJP and JDS should have a common agenda to perform as an effective opposition and reclaim their positions in Karnataka politics.
Senior BJP leader G Madhusudhan said that his party will fight the coming elections on national issues and will raise the corruption cases in which some top Congress leaders are involved. He said BJP will raise Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statements against the Modi government during his visit to the US, his allegation that the minorities are living in fear in the country, SDPI-PFI links with terrorist organizations and other issues.