Bengaluru: Four days before the Karnataka elections, BJP’s Bengaluru North MP and former Vokkaliga Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda is confident that his party will get more seats in the Bengaluru and Old-Mysore regions and retain power in the state.
In an interview with ThePrint’s Shankar Arnimesh (SA), former Union minister Gowda (SG) talks about the many issues highlighted in the BJP’s campaign – from Tipu Sultan to Bajrang Dal being “same” Popular Front of India (PFI) , And listed the reasons why he thinks the BJP will win again and the ’40 per cent commission’ campaign of the Congress is no taker.
The Congress’s allegation of ’40 per cent commission’ had first courted controversy in April last year following the death of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil. In an alleged suicide note, Patil accused former state minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent commission for a government project.
Karnataka will go to polls on May 10. Here are edited excerpts from the interview:
SA: Karnataka is BJP’s gateway to South India. What feedback are you getting from the ground for the election campaign?
SG: In this election, I think the response is quite good. People across the state are ready to give us a mandate – absolute majority. So far we have not got absolute majority in Karnataka. Last time we formed the government after defectors joined BJP. not so now (Not so now), we will have absolute majority and win 130 out of 224 assembly seats in Karnataka.
SA: What are the factors that make you so confident?
SG: See, we ruled the state for eight years. Of course, there was a split within the party. When Yeddyurappa left the party in 2012, we lost the subsequent elections.
We have done very good work in the last three and a half years, especially during the Kovid period. Even in the post-Covid times, the last one and two years with the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and the central government led by ex-CM BS Yeddyurappa has Well done.
We have never seen such good governance in the history of Karnataka. During the election campaign, the Prime Minister also said that Karnataka was number one in providing Covid-assistance to the affected people.
Like the law and order situation in other areas too, ever since the BJP came to power in the state, there have not been serious issues of crime. People are happy and safe.
We have also established a good network of train connectivity. Suburban railway and metro connectivity has been doubled. We have operationalized four airportsAnd even the Bengaluru International Airport has been upgraded.
SA: Even after such a good work, you did not present Bommai as the Chief Minister in the election. There is a perception that the BJP government is corrupt. Even the Congress alleged that ’40 per cent’ corruption has become normal in Karnataka.
SG: Congress has no other agenda, no other issue for this election. It has ruled the state for nearly 50 years, even as the Janata Dal (Secular) Ruled for 13-14 years. We are in power in the state for eight years.
This time, we have run a special campaign before the elections and have shared our report card door-to-door with the voters, where we have shown them the promises that we have fulfilled. We asked him how much other parties have achieved. Now, Congress and JDS are facing a very dangerous situation across the state as they have not achieved much. How will the public believe him?
As far as corruption is concerned, it is only an allegation. Lokayukta is there, you can also complain and put the real allegations in front of the public.
I want to ask Congress, even Rajiv Gandhi had said that when Delhi issued Re 1, only 15 paise reached people, while 85 paise went to middlemen. He was ruling the state and the center at that time, what did he do to end corruption? No one would believe these allegations.
Read also: ,Humiliated, treated as ‘use and throw’: Ex-Karnataka CM Shettar quits BJP after being denied ticket
‘Tipu Sultan not a hero’
SA: You started with Tipu Sultan and shifted Bajrang Bali, Are you pushing an ideological or development agenda in the state?
SG: There should be both ideological and development agenda in our country.
The image of our country got tarnished. A lot happened during the time of Tipu Sultan which is coming to the fore now. The people of the state are rewriting history and whatever happened in the past is coming to the fore now.
Tipu was projected as a hero in history. Do you know how many Hindus were massacred by him and how many Hindus were forced to convert to Kodagu (an ethno-linguistic group from the region of Kodagu) – all these things are now coming to light.
Now people are saying that he was not a hero. He betrayed the people of the country and at one point even met the British. He was not even a patriot. They wanted to save their own people from the hands of the British. He wanted to rule the country by crooked means, this is not acceptable in our country.
And about Bajrang Dal. This is an organization that promotes the interests of Hindus not only in Karnataka but across the country. They are not “terrorists” or “anti-nationals”, as claimed by the Congress in its manifesto. They help in promoting Hindu culture. How can they (Congress) compare Bajrang Dal with PFI? Is Siddaramaiah not a Hindu, does DK Shivakumar not go to the temple to worship Hanuman, Bajrang Dal’s election symbol is Hanuman, they (Congress) cannot compare it with PFI.
SA: The BJP has invested in the old Mysore region. what are your expectations? Everyone from Prime Minister to Yogi Adityanath is campaigning there. What is your assessment?
SG: I am campaigning in those areas also. Yesterday (Friday) I was in Mysore. The response I am seeing today in my political career of 35 years is completely different. Everyone is saying that BJP is the only party which is actually working for the people. Everyone loves Modi and the image of our party and leaders has increased. This will be converted into votes and we will achieve our target.
SA: Bengaluru has been winning fewer seats. What is your forecast in this election, are you expecting more seats?
SG: This time we will get more than 18 out of 28 seats. And this I can tell you without any hesitation. Even the Prime Minister is doing road shows. People want to support a double engine government at the center and in the state. Be it suburban railway or metro or smart city – all these things have raised our hopes.
row around shettar
SA: Jagadish Shettar has left BJP for Congress. Yediyurappa was sidelined. Will these things affect the election? Shettar has accused BL Santhosh of running the party in Karnataka. What is your stand?
SG: I do not think so. Yeddyurappa along with Bommai is still a prominent face in the election. usually when we talk Shettar and Laxman SavadiOf course, everyone says that a big Lingayat face has gone. But the real Lingayats are behind CM Bommai and YediyurappaYes,
All posts were given to these people – Shettar was a chief minister, party president and leader of the opposition. Now the party wants to change the demography of our leadership, so 92 new faces were given tickets.
SA: But Shettar is saying that BL Santosh is promoting Brahmin votes for the post of Chief Minister. What is your reaction on this?
SG: There are two issues – first, ’40 per cent’ commission. there is no evidence. The second is Brahmanism. I want to ask Shettar what percentage of seats have been given to Brahmins, let him answer. It is less than two digits. If we were highlighting Brahmins, they would have done it.
Santosh is full time publicist, His whole life is dedicated for the development of the country. He is the national general secretary of the party. It is quite unfair to blame only him.
Ahead of ticket distribution, Shettar Was in the core committee meeting, of which I was also a part. There he was appreciating Santosh’s efforts to set up booth level organizations. How can it be that after the announcement, he claims that Santosh cheated on him.
The central leadership of the BJP did the same in UP where they refused to give a seat to the Deputy Chief Minister. In Gujarat too, Vijay Rupani, who was the chief minister, and Nitin Patel, who was the deputy CM, were denied tickets. Shettar was a six-time MLA, how long can he continue as a leader? and without providing a second line of leadership a chance, How can the party grow?
SA: What are the chances of Vokkaliga becoming the Chief Minister?
SG: A legislature party meeting will be held, and they will choose a leader, as happened during my time or Yediyurappa and Bommai. Only the elected MLAs will choose their leader. There is a process to elect a leader in a party.
SA: All the surveys are giving edge to Congress, what is your opinion on this?
SG: Asianet BJP has been given 114 seats, Congress has been given 80-90 seats. We are way ahead of them. It is not true that all the surveys are giving edge to Congress.
SA: What are your apprehensions about this election?
SG: Assurance and performance- these are the two issues that will be assessed by the voters. Like Congress, we never said “remove poverty, With this slogan he won three times but poverty (Poverty) has only increased.
We are not like that. We have lived up to 95 per cent of what we said in the manifesto during the elections. This was also mentioned in a news channel which conducted a survey which said that BJP was the only party in Karnataka to fulfill more than 95 per cent of the promises made in the manifesto in the last 75 years.
(Editing by Richa Mishra)