After conquering North-East, BJP sets eye on annexing Karnataka

After a massive win in the North-East states of Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has set its eyes on the southern state of Karnataka, which is due for elections in the coming two months.

The BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa, who is also the current chief ministerial face for the upcoming elections, said, “People of the Northeast and Tripura have rejected the corrupt and divisive politics practised by the Congress and the CPM. This is a positive verdict clearly and categorically in favour of the politics of development ushered in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is now clear that the people of Karnataka will also reject the Congress for its corruption, collapse of law and order, and divisive politics unleashed by Siddaramaiah.”

The BJP looked upbeat after its win over the North-East, but the Congress party is no less backward. Congress state unit working president Dinesh Gundu Rao, said, “The BJP has proved in the Northeast that ideology, the country’s security and unity, nothing matters. They will do anything for power and this is what we will tell the people of Karnataka. We will give the example of the PDP-BJP rule in Jammu and Kashmir, where the administration has ground to a halt and ask the people if this is what they want in Karnataka.”

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Sources on both sides of BJP and Congress say that the results of the North-East will not have any substantial impact on the Karnataka elections. A Congress leader said, “In the Northeast, they are fresh. In Karnataka, all their cards are known and on the table. There is no Himanta Biswa Sarma or Sunil Deodhar to create new elements. It is the same Yeddyurappa and BL Santosh.”

The BJP leadership in the state, however, feels that results of the North-East have ensured that the party will be in success in the southern state too. They aim at being in the eyes of the public for at least 10 days more.

“This will help us create a better mood for our party and enthuse our workers a lot more. They may be small states, but we get to say that we are in power in 22 states in the country now and that is a powerful slogan,” another state BJP leader contended. “After the Gujarat elections, some of the people who wanted to join our party took a step backward. The Congress said the countdown for our defeat had begun. Now the mood is upbeat again and while it may not change things substantially, it is a count-up,” said a party leader.