Former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok, who is the campaign committee convener of Karnataka BJP for the Lok Sabha elections, has declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their candidate in all 28 seats in the State. He spoke to The Hindu on the party’s campaign and prospects. Excerpts:
The State BJP campaign is centred around national security and Mr. Modi. This has come under criticism from the Opposition. How do you defend that?
This is a national election to select the Prime Minister of the country and not State election. Our campaign is deliberately concentrating on national issues, especially national security and welfare. Mr. Modi is our leader and I have declared him as our candidate in all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. There is a Modi wave in the State. We have seen that every Modi rally has been a booster for the party.
Does the State BJP leadership have an image problem, especially after recent allegations of ‘Operation Kamala’, and is hence projecting Mr. Modi?
We have a very good leadership in B.S. Yeddyurappa in the State as was evident in the recent Assembly polls where the party won 104 seats. It is actually the leaders of the Congress-JD(S) coalition who are facing the wrath of the people for subverting the mandate.
The first phase of polling — mostly in Old Mysore region — where BJP is yet to make deep inroads is now over. How do you see BJP performing?
BJP has only benefited from the alliance of Congress and JD(S) in the region and we will give surprise results in many seats like Kolar and Chickballapur where we have never won. Congress is dying in the region and we are gaining new vote base because of the alliance. For instance, in the 2018 Mandya bypolls where the alliance fielded a common candidate, we polled 2.4 lakh votes unprecedented for BJP in the seat.
There has been speculation that BJP will form the government post elections. Will you again go for ‘Operation Kamala’?
If we improve on our tally from the 2014 elections, then the very premise of this alliance to curtail the BJP would have failed and the alliance would unravel by itself. This government can be toppled only by the Congress with all its contradictions among leaders. In such a scenario, as a party with 104 seats we will stake claim. But we have not done any ‘Operation Kamala’ and we will not do so in future.
