Downplays debacle in Goa, Punjab
As the BJP leaders and members went into celebration mode with their party’s historic win in Uttar Pradesh, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said that the party would register an emphatic win in Karnataka in the next Assembly polls.
He told presspersons here on Saturday at his residence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development mantra had helped the party to clinch power in Uttar Pradesh and the result would be a pointer to the changing political equations in the country.
He said the emphatic win of BJP in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand was ‘acceptance’ of the developmental politics of Mr. Modi and appreciation of his war against corruption through demonetisation. He said Mr. Modi had ended “caste-based politics which was hitherto followed in Uttar Pradesh by the likes of SP, BSP and Congress.” “The party will register a similar result by winning 150 seats in Karnataka under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party’s Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa.”
Asked what the results in Manipur, Goa and Punjab indicated, Mr. Shettar said that in Punjab the anti-incumbency factor had worked against the 10-year old Akali Dal-BJP combine. “In Goa, people had chosen Manohar Parrikar as their leader. Laxmikanth Parsekar, who replaced him after Mr. Parrikar became Union Minister, could not compensate for his leadership. Moreover Goa is a small State, where BJP never had won with a big margin.”
Meanwhile, in a release, former BJP State President and Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi has termed the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh as victory of Mr. Modi’s pro-development and pro-poor programmes and congratulated party’s national president Amit Shah on the victory. The victory in 300 plus constituencies in Uttar Pradesh was a fitting reply by the voters to the baseless allegations by the Opposition parties and criticism of Mr. Modi, he has said.
Celebration
The BJP leaders and members celebrated the party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh polls by distributing sweets and bursting crackers at different locations. In the celebration held at Durgad Bail, Mr. Jagadish Shettar and others participated by beating the ‘jaggalige’ (traditional percussion instrument).
