Ridiculing the Congress, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi said the party did not have any issue to raise during the election and it had become leaderless.
Speaking to presspersons in Belagavi on Saturday on his arrival to participate in a bypoll related meeting of the BJP, Mr. Joshi said the Congress did not have a stand of its own and it had become a ‘bus-stand’.
He expressed confidence that BJP would register historic win in the three byelections being held in Karnataka and the party would also come to power in the five States where Assembly elections were underway. He said the ‘Didi Sarkar’ in West Bengal would collapse.
‘Easy win’
Mr. Joshi said the party candidate for Belagavi Loksabha bypoll, Mangala Angadi, would register an easy win. “People of the country are impressed by the good work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and developmental works of the B.S. Yediyurappa-led State government in Karnataka. The BJP will fight the election by presenting the development works before the people,” he said.
To a query, he clarified that there would be no change of leadership in Karnataka and Mr. Yediyurappa would continue as Chief Minister.
Regarding former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s statement about big payment being made for BJP ticket at Basavakalyan, Mr. Joshi said Mr. Kumaraswamy had the habit of making such statements for the sake of being in the news. “We are not in such a bad position as their party,” he said.
Earlier speaking to presspersons in Belagavi, Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar expressed confidence of BJP’s win in the Belagavi bypoll and said the CD issue was not an election issue at all.
The farmers’ issue had been raked up unnecessarily by the Congress as there was nothing to say against Mr. Modi, he said. If at all the farm laws were detrimental to farmers, the whole country would have taken the path of agitation, not just one or two States, he said.
To a query, Mr. Shettar said the Jarkiholi brothers would campaign for the party in the byelection.
