Karnataka Polls: BJP Is A 'Sinking Ship', Congress A United Force, Say Leaders

Right ahead of the assembly polls in Karnataka, Congress leaders on Tuesday termed the ruling BJP a 'sinking ship' which even Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot save.

Congress leaders on Tuesday also said their party is "united" in the southern state and will ensure the "40 percent commission" government is ousted. 

The Congress also claimed that it had information that the BJP is unable to select its candidates as "mass exodus" is happening in the party and Prime Minister Modi is "resorting to its last weapon of misusing Income Tax and ED officials" against Congress leaders and candidates.

AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also dismissed reports claiming that the latter had pushed his case as a contender for the top post and said his statements to a channel were "misinterpreted". 

They said Siddaramaiah had never claimed that he would be the chief minister and had only stated that he is a contender and that the party high command would decide after consulting the elected MLAs on who the leader would be.

Congress' CEC Meeting

Siddaramaiah and PCC president D K Shivakumar were in the national capital to attend the party's central election committee meeting here on Tuesday. 

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi were present during the meeting, where the leadership discussed the allocation of tickets for the remaining 100 seats. 

The Congress was the first to declare 124 candidates for the May 10 election to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.

Surjewala told reporters that the screening committee and the Central Election Committee again met on Tuesday and discussed the probable candidates for the remaining seats and would declare some more seats by the late evening.  He stressed that the leaders were unanimous while deciding on the party candidates for the upcoming elections. 

"The '40 percent Commission BJP Sarkara' in Karnataka has floundered and failed. The so-called 'double engine Sarkar' is a double-betrayal for Karnataka. Modi government betrays Karnataka on one hand and the Bommai government brazenly loots Karnataka on the other hand," he alleged.

"The way in which BJP leaders are leaving the party in Karnataka in hordes, as over 10 MLAs have left expressing no confidence in the Bommai government, it (BJP) is a sinking ship which is on a nosedive and neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor the corrupt BJP government can save it anymore," Surjewala told reporters. 

He also claimed that the Congress stood firmly united while the BJP is running scared.

Congress accuses BJP for misusing investigative agencies

"Prime Minister Modi has decided to use the final arsenal in his armoury which will also fail miserably. We have information that hundreds of I-T and ED officers have been dispatched to Karnataka to conduct raids across the state on Congress leaders, Congress candidates, possible Congress candidates. But PM Modi and his ED and I-T should know that their fake, fraudulent and fabricated raids will not cow down the Congress which is on the cusp of coming to power," Surjewala said.

He claimed that the Income Tax and ED departments of the BJP cannot and will not deter the Congress 'rath' "which is the people's rath" from going past the 150-plus mark of victory.

"We also call upon all those bureaucrats and  officers of the I-T and ED who are being sought to be misused by raids that will begin tomorrow as per our information, that all wrongdoings you are doing on behalf of the BJP government would be accounted for," he said.

He alleged that while Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai "is not being respected anymore, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa is being insulted everyday".     Siddaramaiah said he had given an interview to a TV channel which misinterpreted it. He claimed that he never said that he will be the chief minister. 

"I said in the interview that I am also an aspirant for the chief minister's post and, likewise, D K Shivakumar is also an aspirant for the chief minister's post. The aim of both of us is to defeat the BJP and to bring back the Congress party to power," he said.

"My statement in the interview is misinterpreted. What I said was I am an aspirant and Shivakumar is an aspirant and there is nothing wrong in being an aspirant," he said.

The newly-elected MLAs will have to elect the leader of the legislature party after the election, and ultimately the high command has to take a decision, he said. 

Siddaramaiah claimed that there is a strong anti-incumbency against the BJP. He said the "state has never had such a corrupt government". 

Shivakumar also said their purpose is to jointly remove the "corrupt" BJP government from power in the state. 

Meanwhile, hitting out at Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Bommai said they are fighting for the chief minister's post and their main focus is power and not the welfare of the people.

"People who have to decide (whom to elect), don't have both (leaders) in mind... Both are dreaming about the chief minister's post, but it will not come true," Chief Minister Bommai said.

(With PTI Inputs)