Congress ‘scams’ in Karnataka were part of campaign in Haryana, says BJP

BJP's victory in Haryana Assembly election attributed to people's trust in Modi, while Congress reflects on defeat.

Describing the BJP’s victory in the Haryana Assembly election despite the exit polls favouring the Congress as a “testament to people’s trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, the party’s Karnataka unit president B.Y. Vijayendra on Tuesday said the BJP had narrated the alleged failure of the Congress government in Karnataka to effectively implement guarantee schemes and its alleged scams.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said he respected the people’s verdict in the Haryana election and added that it was “a lesson for everyone in the party”.

Mr. Vijayendra told media persons in Bengaluru, “The BJP leaders during the campaign had mentioned how the Congress government in Karnataka that had come to power in the name of Ahinda (Kannada acronym for Minorities, OBCs, and Dalits) had actually meted out injustice to them by misusing funds meant for their welfare. The people of Haryana have overwhelmingly supported the BJP‘s development agenda, rejecting the Congress’ anti-development stance.” He also congratulated the people of Jammu and Kashmir for voting the BJP as the second-largest party in the State.

Leader of the BJP’s alliance partner JD(S) and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy too congratulated the BJP and Mr. Modi for the party’s poll performance. “Once again, Mr. Modi has proven himself as a strong and trusted leader,” he said in a social media post.

The KPCC president, meanwhile, told media persons at a Raitha Dasara event in Sindhanur, “This verdict is a big lesson for us. Our senior leaders will evaluate what went wrong. We need to tread carefully in the future.”

He said, “People’s verdict is ultimate. I did not believe the exit polls but was confident that we would get a majority, but the result is otherwise. I was confident of victory for the Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. Haryana has a large presence of farming community and the poll result is a setback. But we have to accept people’s verdict,” he maintained.

Asked about senior party leader K.B. Koliwad’s statement that the Congress’ setback in Haryana is due to Mr. Modi raising the issue of alleged irregularities in MUDA in the election campaign, he said, “There is no need to discuss MUDA. There is no connection between MUDA and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The investigation is going on.”