Bengaluru (IANS) | After the Congress won a landslide victory in Karnataka, the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government is now eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the party aims to prevent a repeat of 2019 by the BJP.
The Congress had won only one out of 28 seats in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and is now aiming to win at least 20 seats. By defeating the BJP in the assembly elections, the Congress has closed the doors of South India for the saffron party.
Cabinet minister Dr Sharanprakash Patil, considered close to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said the party would make every effort to win all the seats in the state. People’s sentiments have changed. Congress will win at least 25 seats this time.
According to Congress sources, 9 cabinet ministers have been made from the Dalit community, 7 Lingayats and 5 Vokkaligas. Apart from this, 7 ministers from OBC and ST community have taken oath. The party has allocated 2 cabinet posts to Muslims and 1 each to Christian, Jain and Brahmin communities.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that a full-fledged government has been formed in the state within 15 days of the election results. People have voted us to provide stable and clean governance and we will live up to the expectations of the people.
Taking a jibe at the BJP, CM Siddaramaiah said that the public was disenchanted with the struggles of the ‘one man government’ and people had seen the helplessness of a Chief Minister who was going round Delhi for cabinet expansion. They had seen futile meetings with the high command with no results, and today they see a fearless, complete and stable government.
Congress leader says Siddaramaiah has strayed from the path of controlling ministerial aspirants by keeping 2-3 ministerial posts vacant till the end of his term and has filled all 34 ministerial posts, which shows his confidence and determination . Representation has been given to most of the districts except a few.
However, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has claimed that the arrogance of the Congress government is already showing. The politics of hatred being adopted by the Congress will end by the time of the Lok Sabha elections. Cabinet ministers are talking about hatred and political rivalry. They have chosen hatred instead of development.
While former CM HD Kumaraswamy has predicted that this government will not last long. The former CM has called upon his party workers to be ready for new political developments in a few months.
Having struck a chord with the people of the state after its pre-poll proposal to ban Bajrang Dal for its involvement in anti-social activities, the Congress is upbeat and talking about banning the RSS. CM Siddaramaiah took a U-turn after Priyank Kharge made repeated statements banning RSS and Bajrang Dal.
While the grand old party Congress is ready with a strong leadership in Karnataka, the BJP has to find a leader who can take on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar in the state.
Congress President Kharge belongs to the state and his appeal of being Karnataka’s son of the soil has impressed the public. With former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa retiring from electoral politics, the BJP does not have a mass leader who can stand up to the stature of Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and Kharge. The Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to elect the Leader of the Opposition.
The BJP’s hope of depending on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Hindutva has done it a lot of damage. Making its presence felt in the Lok Sabha elections is a challenging task for it as the Congress is marching ahead with confidence.
–IANS
