Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (EP)
Bengaluru, May 2: Reacting to BJP's performance in the Kerala state Assembly elections, Karnataka deputy chief minister (DCM) Dr Ashwath Narayan on Sunday May 2 downplayed the BJP's loss and said that the party had made gains and would come to power in 2026 elections.
"People do not have faith in LDF and UDF. They want to throw away both of them. But votes get shifted in between competition between the parties. Both the parties are disastrous to Kerala. BJP has increased its vote share. We will definitely come to power in Kerala in 2026," he said.
On the bypolls in Karnataka, he said, "We hope to win bye-elections in both the constituencies. There is a neck-and-neck fight in Belagavi by election. There is a small margin. But we will surely win. We cannot identify any one person responsible for the win. All of us are working including chief minister's son Vijayendra," he said.
He further said that controlling the spread of coronavirus amid election results was a challenge. "The conditions are not suitable even though we work hard. The government is working sincerely but there are inadequacies in performance. Covid is spreading on a large scale. There have been scarcities of vaccines, Remdesivir, beds etc. It has not happened only in our state but also in the country and the world. We have acted quickly in a short time. Covid management is not the reason for our loss.
"There were no BJP MLAs in the local body elections that the party lost. There is no wave against the government. Several elections were held during this term and we have won many of them. Therefore there is no calls for change in leadership," said Ashwath Narayan.
Commenting on Trinamool Congress party's victory in the crucial West Bengal elections, he said, "Rowdism, violence and misuse of power have taken place in Didi's (Mamata Banerjee) West Bengal. They have played politics of fear. TMC has not held just elections. It has retained power by means of fear. The real opinion of the people is not in their favour. BJP had an opportunity to win there," he said.