K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, said on Monday that the coalition government in the State would collapse within 24 hours of the declaration of results of the parliamentary elections.
Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Bhat said that the former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah did not like to see Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister.
He had relented only because AICC president Rahul Gandhi had requested him to support the coalition government, he said.
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After the parliamentary polls, Mr. Siddaramaiah would not be under any obligation and would bring the government down, he added.
Mr. Bhat said that Mr. Kumaraswamy had given a lot of assurances to the leaders of different communities who had met him in Karkala so that coalition candidate Pramod Madhwaraj could win in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary seat. “But the entire State’s budget would not be enough to fulfil the assurances Mr. Kumaraswamy has given. Mr. Kumaraswamy has neglected the coastal districts in the last nine months,” he said.
Mr. Kumaraswamy had failed to visit the families of two fishermen who were among the seven onboard a fishing boat from Malpe that went missing off Goa coast on December 15, 2018, he said.
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Describing the Mahagathbandhan as being a la “Ali Baba and 40 thieves”, Mr. Bhat said that leaders of different political parties had come together during the swearing-in ceremony of the coalition government in the State nine months ago. “These leaders and their parties lacked credibility. The people want to give another term to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
To a query, Mr. Bhat said that the BJP candidate in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency Shobha Karandlaje would win by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes.
“We seek votes for Ms. Karandlaje to make Mr. Modi the Prime Minister again,” he said.
Mr. Madhwaraj had failed to develop Udupi district during his tenure as Minister for Fisheries and Youth Empowerment in the Siddaramaiah government. He could not solve the sand removal problem in the district either, he said.
Mr. Bhat said that the BJP would hold a bicycle rally called Chowkidar Cyclathon’ from Malpe beach to the district BJP office here on April 12. About 1,000 bicyclists would participate in the rally, he said.