Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu said here on Sunday that the BJP’s victory in the next year’s State Assembly elections was definite and that it would foray into other States as well.
Addressing party workers and leaders from the district, Mr. Naidu said BJP, once confined to northern States, has expanded its presence across India and would come to power in Karnataka again where the Congress had failed to respond to public grievances. He alleged that there was administrative collapse in the State and the government had failed to tackle drought.
He called upon party workers to reach out to the masses and make door-to-door contact and work hard to ensure the success of the party in the next elections. “BJP president Amit Shah has embarked on a historic tour across the country with the objective of winning the elections in other States as well,” he said.
Mr. Naidu said there was no semblance of any “kaam” (work in Hindi) during the UPA rule but only scams whereas there has not been any scam or corruption in the three years of BJP rule under Narendra Modi. “Corruption free and scam free administration” is the achievement of the BJP, he said.
The Centre had cracked down on black money through various measures, including demonetisation and this was paying dividend and an additional 91 lakh people have been brought under the tax net, he said. Stringent measures are in place so that money is not siphoned off from the country while reforms have ensured a steady flow of FDI, he added.
Mr. Naidu said there was no doubt of the BJP returning to power in Karnataka. “Many senior leaders have worked hard to strengthen the party and ensure its growth and it was the only party where a commoner could raise to the highest level,” Mr. Naidu said.
Referring to the Opposition demand to revert to the ballot papers in elections, Mr. Naidu said the Congress had no problems with its victories in the two bypolls in the State recently but had issues when the BJP sweeps to power, exposing its double standards.
Pratap Simha, MP for Mysuru, the former Minister S.A. Ramdas, and others were present. Mr. Naidu later participated in the 75th birthday celebrations of Sri Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji.
