Shivakumar desperately wants to become CM, says K'taka BJP chief Vijayendra

Bengaluru: BJP Karnataka unit president B Y Vijayendra on Friday said Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar desperately wants to become the chief minister and he is not going to keep quiet post the Lok Sabha elections.

Claiming that the Hindu majority is feeling unsafe under the Congress regime in the state, he said the Siddaramaiah government believes that guarantee schemes are development and accused it of trying to fool the people.

Expressing confidence about the BJP-JD(S) combine winning all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the son of party veteran and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said it is not the target given by the central leadership, but was set by the state unit to itself.

“Personally, as the party president, I will be more than happy to sit in the opposition and work in the interests of the state, because the opposition too has its own responsibility like the ruling party. Having said that, I don’t know the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls. Shivakumar is desperately waiting to occupy the CM’s post, so what is there in Shivakumar’s mind, I cannot predict,” Vijayendra said in an interview to PTI.

Responding to a question on several BJP and JD(S) leaders predicting collapse of the Congress government after the Lok Sabha polls, he said, “But one thing is sure and everyone is sure about it including Siddaramaiah that Shivakumar is not going to keep quiet post Lok Sabha elections.”

Noting that it has been five months since he became the party president and has travelled across the state and has covered almost all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, Vijayendra said, the mood among the ‘Karyakartas’ and the voters is upbeat. In spite of the Congress government and claims by them about their “so-called” guarantees, the mood of the people is they will vote keeping national interests in mind. “So certainly they will vote for BJP and Narendra Modi.”

He asserted the target of winning all the 28 seats is not ambitious.

“We Karnataka state BJP have set this target, simply because when our PM is doing so much for the country, we thought we have to give our hundred per cent to strengthen the hands of our PM. The best way to do it is to win all 28 seats, with our NDA partner JD(S),” he added.

Stating that despite ten years of Modi or BJP rule at the Centre, the popularity of the PM has doubled not only in Karnataka but across the country, Vijayendra said because of the non-performance of Congress government in Karnataka, development has come to a standstill, while law and order situation is deteriorating by the day.

“Yesterday in daylight a girl was murdered in Hubballi, love jihad. Yesterday alone there were eight murders across the state. This shows the prevailing law and order situation here in Karnataka… so it is total chaos and lawlessness across the state under the leadership of Siddaramaiah,” he said.

“There is a lack of development, people are feeling unsafe and this government believes that guarantee schemes are development, they are trying to fool the people of Karnataka. There is not even a single programme under this government in the interest of the state,” he added.

“There is no development, people are unhappy. This is the most unpopular government, because in the last ten months, it has lost all its credibility, they are only talking about guarantees, nothing else,” he added.

Pointing out that all differences with alliance partner JD(S) that are natural when new partnerships are formed, have been sorted out in the interest of the nation and the alliance, he said as the state president of BJP, he is really happy to say that across Karnataka, the cadre of BJP as well as JD(S) are working together in the interests of the nation and in the interests of Narendra Modi.

Cadres in both the parties and also people on the ground feel this is a natural alliance and it should continue, he said. “Of course there are a few challenges which we will have to address in the days to come, but as far as Lok Sabha elections are concerned, people are willing to vote for this alliance, cadres are also working hard.”

Responding to JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy’s remarks about JD(S) and BJP once again forming a coalition government in Karnataka as it was done in 2006, Vijayendra said, “BJP and JD(S) is a good combination, it is a working combination, and it is a natural combination, people of Karnataka are talking about this. In the days to come it will be known…”

However, stating that Karnataka should always have a government with absolute majority, he said, “as the party President my aim is to ensure that BJP should come back with an absolute majority in the interests of the state as well as the party. We don’t have any confusion on that front. My mandate is to expand my base in the old Mysuru region and also in the region where BJP’s presence is limited.”

By Kishore S U