The Lok Sabha polls were B Y Vijayendra’s first big test as the BJP’s Karnataka president. Having won 17 seats on its own and two by its ally JD(S), Vijayendra spoke to DH’s N B Hombal on the results and the way forward.
What factors made this result possible for the BJP in Karnataka? PM Modi’s popularity is the biggest contributing factor for the party’s performance in the state. Task was cut out for our party leaders and cadre to convert his popularity into votes, in which we have succeeded. The second biggest factor was our alliance with the JD(S). What does this result mean for you politically in terms of your future in the party?
It’s never a question of my future. My commitment to the party was never linked to any position. As a sincere worker of this party, I always think about the party’s interests first. Definitely, this result has increased my responsibility. I also wish to clarify here that the party did not appoint me as the party president only keeping Lok Sabha polls in mind, but to build the party, which I’ve started doing.
We have MLC polls, ZP-TP polls and other elections. The ultimate goal is to expand the party’s base and ensure that it comes to power with an absolute majority in the next Assembly polls. The BJP was fraught with rebellion after candidates were announced. It’s quite common in any party.
There was a lot of competition to get the BJP ticket. This was not the situation in Congress where no minister was willing to bite the bullet. Simply, Congress leaders knew that BJP had the winning edge. What went wrong for the party in the incumbent eight seats it lost?
I don’t want to blame any single person. Our party cadre put their best foot forward in every seat and fought unitedly. But I must admit that the impact of Congress’ guarantees can’t be ignored in some seats where we lost. The Congress credited three months of arrears of the Gruha Lakshmi money to women just three days before polls, which had an impact in some seats. Except in Kalyana Karnataka, our performance in all other regions - Kittur Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and Old Mysuru - was really good.
We’ll analyse and rectify in due course. What’s the way ahead for the BJP? We’ve a big task ahead to expose Congress. We’ve given them enough time to perform, but they have failed miserably on all fronts, especially on the development front and in giving a clean and corruption-free government. As a responsible Opposition, we will hit the streets to expose them further.
