BSY confident of BJP win in Karnataka

Struggling through a big crowd of party workers and leaders from north Karnataka to Kodagu, and reaching the meeting room is itself is like winning a relay race.

That is the scene one can witness at BJP’s CM candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa’s residence in Bengaluru almost every day and Sunday was no exception. Some want him to change the candidate announced for their constituencies and others want tickets for the constituencies for which the party is yet to announce its candidates.

Before taking a chopper to four constituencies where he would campaign on Sunday, he sat for a quick interview with Bhaskar Hegde. As ever, Mr Yeddyurappa was confident and belligerent at times, showing a soft corner for JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda. He talked about various issues concerning the elections. Here are excerpts from his interview.

Q. You say your party will win a clear majority. Not only that, you have been saying the Congress tally will come down to 60 or even less. How is it possible?

A. I have toured the state thrice before the announcement of elections. The mood is against the Congress. No matter whatever the outcome of various news channel surveys, our party will get a clear majority. You will come to know in a week’s time about how the Congress will implode. The Congress is in a pathetic condition, the chief minister is going to lose in two constituencies and his son will also lose the polls. In the absence of strong leaders, the Congress candidates have to depend on money and local adjustments to fight the polls. What Mr Siddaramaiah did to Dr G. Parameshwar in the 2013 Assembly elections, will be done to him this time. The more AICC president Rahul Gandhi visits the state, the more will we benefit.

Q. How many seats will your party get?

A. Did you ever expect that the BJP would come to power on its own in UP? It(the win) will repeat in Karnataka. Our aim is to win 150 seats. I am confident.

Q. Not only Congress. even JD(S) has been saying they will form the government on their own.

A. Who will trust the JD (S)? They cannot win the polls with false and non-pragmatic promises. At the most, they might win 30 -40 seats.

Q. You do not criticise the JD(S) in campaign speeches, that’s why there is an impression that the BJP has a tacit understanding with the JD (S)...

A. No. We are fielding 224 candidates. That’s a clear indication that we will fight both parties. No qu-estion of having an understanding with the JD(S). But, as a mark of respect, we do not attack or criticise H.D. Deve Gowda because he is a former PM and he is from our state.

Q. You claim you will cross the 150-seat target. But on seeing your list many in your party say you will get, at best, 60 seats.

A. I can write and give you a list today (of the winners). Let us keep it in a sealed cover. After the announcement of poll results, we will discuss the outcome.  

Q. The Congress seem to have dealt with the rebels more systematically than the BJP and your party might crumble with rebels upsetting your calculations.

A. No. We have been constantly in touch with those who could not get tickets. After party president Amit Shah’s internal survey, we changed some candidates.

Q. But many in the party say Mr Yeddyurappa did not accept the list prepared by Mr Shah. You dominated and got your list approved..

A. No, not at all. After touring 224 seats, I gave suggestions and Mr Shah commissioned a survey for himself. When nearly 90 per cent of my suggestions concurred with his list, he approved those names. But ultimately, Mr Shah took the decision.

Q. For the first time, there seems to be no wave in favour of any party. How do you analyse the situation?

A. Earlier, we did not have a government at the Centre but now we have a government. Lakhs of youth, enrolled for the first time, are with us... Internally, we strengthened the booth committees. So, internally and externally, circumstances will favour us.