Basavaraj Bommai says BJP accepts defeat in Karnataka
The grand old party won more than twice as many seats as the BJP and the score is Congress – 135/224 constituencies and BJP – 66. No wonder the Karnataka election results are a big jolt for BJP, given that the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are just months away. So, what is the plan now?
“We had an informal meeting with our president and we have discussed certain issues and we’ll shortly call elected representatives and the people who contested. We will have an in-depth analysis and do the course correction to come back to power in the Lok Sabha elections,” said Bommai.
The former CM also stated that party state president Nalin Kateel would not step down from his post following the poll defeat.
“The state president Nalin Kateel will not step down. Today, some MLAs were present at the state BJP office. We accepted our defeat humbly. This is not PM Modi’s defeat, he is a national leader. The Congress leadership has lost in the entire country,” he added.
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People Are Tired Of Modi: Congress
This is not Modi’s defeat, Bommai said but Congress begs to differ. Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh came out hard against BJP over the election results in Karnataka and claimed that people have become “tired” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and were not even enthusiastic about his campaign.
Ramesh said, “His (PM Modi) language…double engine! What does he even mean by that? In his mind, a double engine means he himself sitting in Delhi, and his remote control sitting in Bengaluru, Bhopal or anywhere else. This is not double engine. Double engine means one engine economic development and the other engine social harmony”.
“People are tired of PM and his campaign, no matter how many roadshows he did, flowers were sprinkled from the sky, but people were not enthusiastic. Just look at the voter turnout. It was over 73 per cent in Karnataka but so less in Bengaluru,” the senior Congress leader added.
Karnataka went to the polls on May 10 for the 224-member state assembly and saw a record polling of 72.68 per cent. According to the Election Commission of India, Congress won 135 seats boosting its own prospects for the electoral battles ahead. BJP managed to win 66 seats. Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.
