NEW DELHI: The
BJP on Tuesday scored yet another victory over the
Congress and is set to form its government in
Karnataka under BS Yeddyurappa.
The BJP's impressive show in the Karnataka assembly elections will come as a big boost to the party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Senior BJP leaders, who assembled at the party headquarters in the national capital to celebrate the Karnataka win, described the victory as an endorsement of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's development agenda.
The leaders slammed the Congress for running a divisive, toxic and negative campaign and said the people of Karnataka had chosen BJP's development agenda over Congress's divisive agenda.
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According to the Election Commission figures, the BJP is heading in over 112 seats and appears set for getting a majority.
Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it is an historic day for the party and the win is an endorsement of Modi's development agenda.
People have rejected divisive, toxic and negative politics of the Congress, she said.
People, however, went for Modi's development agenda, she added.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took a swipe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying somebody was dreaming of becoming prime minister, a reference to
Rahul Gandhi's statement during the Karnataka poll campaign that he was ready for the job if his party emerged victorious in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Prakash Javadekar, another Union minister who was also in charge of the state's election, said the BJP won because it is a party of the masses while the Congress is a party of a dynasty.
"This is a victory of Modi and party president Amit Shah's strategy," he said.
Polling in Karnataka was held for 222 of the 224 assembly seats on May 12.
Polling for R R Nagar seat was deferred on account of alleged electoral malpractices, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar seat following the death of the BJP candidate.
(With inputs from PTI)
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