Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Thursday said the BJP government in the State would implement all budget promises despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the inaugural of the party’s State executive meeting held in Mangaluru on Thursday, he said the finances were improving as the days passed. Hence there would be no constraints to implement budget promises. The second instalment of ₹50 lakh MLA development funds was just released, he said.
He said Karnataka had become model to other States. The government was acting with iron hands against the drug mafia. Stringent action was being taken without fear or favour against the mafia to protect the young generation from its clutches, the Chief Minister added.
On the performance and prospects of the party, he said the BJP would come to power in the State by securing 140 to 150 seats in the next Assembly elections, after two-and-a-half years.
He said the party that was short of nine seats to form the government after the 2018 elections got a boost with 18 MLAs from the ruling coalition resigning from their seats and 16 of them getting re-elected.
A gathering at the BJP’s State executive meeting in Mangaluru on Thursday.
The party had thus gained a foothold in areas where it was not strong before, including Chickballapur and Mandya districts. In the Rajarajeshwarinagar and Sira byelections, the party would win by at least 40,000 and 20,000 vote margin, respectively, he said. The party would also win four seats in the elections to the Legislative Council and the Congress would face a humiliating defeat in all these elections, he added. “This, however, doesn’t mean that party workers can take elections lightly; they have to work hard for every election, be it gram panchayat or the Lok Sabha,” he said.
Organisational set-up
Presiding over the inaugural function, State BJP president and Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said that winning at least 150 seats in the next Assembly elections was the party’s target. The organisational structure of the party in undivided Dakshina Kannada would be extended State-wide to strengthen the party.
Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and D.V. Sadananda Gowda, BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi and others were present.
4 names to be shortlisted for polls to RS seat
The BJP core committee has decided to shortlist four names to the coming election in the State to the single seat in the Rajya Sabha.
After the core committee meeting here, State BJP vice-president Arvind Limbavali said there were 10 to 12 aspirants for the ticket. From among them, four would be picked and recommend to the central election committee through the State unit president, he said.
“The State core committee can only make the recommendation. The selection of the candidate will be as per the decision of the central election committee of the party,” he said.
Selection in a week
Later, Mr. Kateel said the candidate for the Rajya Sabha election would be finalised within a week.
The process of selecting the party candidate for the coming bypoll to the Maski Assembly constituency had begun. The process of selecting candidates for Basavakalyana Assembly constituency bypoll and Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency bypoll was yet to begin, Mr. Kateel said.
