State president of the BJP Nalin Kumar Kateel said here on Thursday that the party will win the recently conducted by-polls to Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly constituencies by a margin of 15,000-20,000 votes and 35,000-40,000 votes, respectively.
Speaking to presspersons after the State executive and core committee meetings, Mr. Kateel said that the Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramiah is struggling to retain his relevance and existence in the Congress. Hence, he has been targeting the BJP daily by issuing one irresponsible statement or the other.
“Mr. Siddaramaiah fears that he will be sidelined by the power of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar. Hence, he has begun discussing leadership change in the ruling party,” Mr. Kateel said and added that there is no question of replacing B.S Yediyurappa as Chief Minister.
Mr. Kateel said that 10-15 non-BJP MLAs in the State are already knocking on the doors of the BJP.
Following the DJ Halli violence in Bengaluru, many Congress MLAs have felt that the Congress is not coming to their rescue.
The DJ Halli and KJ Halli incidents are the result of the political tussle between Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar in the Congress, the BJP leader said.
