Karnataka Elections 2023: Reacting to the exit of disgruntled leaders who were denied tickets for the upcoming state Assembly elections, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday that the BJP is a community and cadre-based party and the defection by leaders will not impact the party.
Speaking to the media at Mysuru airport, Bommai said that a few leaders may have deserted the party but as the BJP is not an individual-based party like others, the defection of some leaders will not have any impact.
"The Congress did not have candidates for around 60 constituencies, so it announced nominees for just 150 constituencies and kept quiet without releasing the list for all the 224 seats. It is of no use to get leaders to defect from the strongholds of the BJP and give them Congress tickets," Bommai said.
Karnataka CM on Shettar's joining Congress
Reacting to former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar's entry into the Congress fold, Bommai said that the senior leader is a very simple and good person but unfortunately got into bad company. "Social reformer Basavanna preached to people not to make friendship with bad people. But Shettar, who was in the company of good people, went to the bad people's group," Bommai said.
With the BJP pitching state minister V. Somanna from the Lingayat community against Congress strongman and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Varuna Assembly constituency, Bommai said the contest is intense but it is pro-BJP.
"A surprise result will come from this constituency due to political and social polarisation. For this reason, a senior and seasoned leader like Somanna has been fielded in this constituency. We have taken this seat seriously and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the poll campaign a day after the withdrawal of nomination papers," Bommai said.
The Chief Minister also said that he doesn't know why the Congress has not announced a candidate for the Shiggaon Assembly constituency from where Bommai is contesting the polls.
BJP announces 3rd list of 10 candidates
Meanwhile, on Monday, the BJP released its third list of 10 candidates for the upcoming polls. The party has fielded state BJP General Secretary Mahesh Tenginkai from the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly segment, which was represented by former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress today upset that he was overlooked for the contest by the saffron party.
In three seats, family members of party leaders have been given tickets. While former Minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura Constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal.
Karnataka Assembly elections 2023
It should be noted here that the Election Commission of India announced the schedule of the Assembly elections in Karnataka today. The state will witness a single phase of voting on May 10, whereas, results will be declared on May 13. Notably, the term of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will be ending on May 24. Speaking at the press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that more than 9.17 lakh first-time voters will be participating in the upcoming elections in Karnataka.
(With inputs from agencies)
