BJP’s national general secretary in charge of Karnataka affairs Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, believes that the Congress government in the State will collapse on its own soon after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “We don’t want to dethrone them. Where is the need to hit someone who is already dying? Why should we take the blame?”
Interacting with mediapersons during his visit to Hassan on March 26, Mr. Agarwal said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar have a lot of differences. “The BJP would win all 28 seats. Once the results are out, Siddaramaiah will blame his deputy for the defeat of his candidates. The Deputy CM will blame the CM for the defeat of his candidates. The government will collapse because of internal contradictions. They have more enmity with each other than with the BJP,” he said.
Asked about the differences in the BJP over the selection of candidates in Karnataka, Mr. Agarwal said differences are common when the chances of winning the contest with the BJP symbol and Modi’s face are quite high. “There were hardly any competitors for Congress tickets. Hence, Siddaramaiah convened a meeting of his cabinet ministers and forced them to field their family members, threatening that they would be removed from the cabinet if they did not do so. The ministers have fielded their kith and kin in order to safeguard their cabinet berths,” he said.
He exuded confidence of winning the Bengaluru Rural seat. “There is a wave in favour of Dr. C.N. Manjunath, who is contesting against D.K. Shivakumar’s brother D.K. Suresh. Mr. Shivakumar cannot get his brother to win even if he spends 10 times more money than he spent in 20219,” he said.
Answering a question about a few leaders of BJP in Hassan opposing the candidature of Prajwal Revanna, Mr. Agarwal said the workers had conveyed their opinions. “Our workers are waiting for the official announcement of candidates. They will work with JD(S) workers to get the alliance partner to win,” he said.
Mr. Agarwal addressed a meeting of party workers in Shivamogga.
