Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a further push to the party making inroads in the Old Mysore, launched a virulent attack on Janata Dal (Secular) that has a strong base in the region, asking people to defeat those “who win a handful of seats and resort to blackmail”. He said that “a vote to JD(S) is a vote to Congress.”
In a break away from the earlier strategy followed by the party to soft-peddle JD(S), Mr. Shah had also attacked the regional party on Friday, besides Congress, hours after he shared the stage with JD(S) supremo H. D. Deve Gowda in Mandya.
Speaking to party workers and leaders in Bengaluru on Saturday, Mr. Shah said: “Congress and JD(S) who fight each other every day got together to form a government in 2018 to keep us out of power. But that government collapsed due to their infighting. It is now very clear that a vote to JD(S) is a vote to Congress….Political instability is not good for the development of the State. This is an opportunity to settle the account of parties who win a handful of seats and resort to blackmail.”
Also launching an attack on Mr. Deve Gowda, accusing him of “doing little” despite being both Chief Minister and Prime Minister, Mr. Shah declared that the BJP would fight alone and would come to power independently in the State. This comes amidst Mr. Shah setting a target of winning 54 seats in Old Mysore region which has total of 89 seats. He also set a target of winning 21 of the 28 seats in Bengaluru.
No adjustments
Sources in the party said Mr. Shah’s attack on JD(S) was a clear message to the State leadership, many of whom seemed resigned to the fate of a coalition government with JD(S) in 2023. “Given that no government has been re-elected since 1985, many State leaders seemed to have assumed their best hope was to deny Congress a majority and form a coalition government with JD(S). But Modi-Shah fight all elections to win and that is what Mr. Shah has said during this trip,” said a senior party leader. In a meeting of senior party leaders, Mr. Shah said in no uncertain terms that the high command would neither tolerate in-fighting nor “inter-party adjustments”, he added.
This was also aimed at giving clarity to cadre who were confused on the party’s strategy given the “leniency” of State leaders towards JD(S), another senior party strategist said.
Will fight polls under Modi
In a departure from his statement in 2021, when he said the party would fight the 2023 polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Mr. Shah said the party would fight the elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Give us five years, Narendra Modi will end dynastic politics, casteism, and corruption in the State,” he said.
Party sources said this was a clear indication that the party high command seemed to have decided to take over the electioneering for 2023 Assembly polls.
