From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Hubballi, Mar 10: Two days after KPCC chief D K Shivakumar had predicted that ruling BJP will reach a tally of 65 seats and may even slip to 40, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the opposition Congress tally would be 65.
“The BJP is quite strong at the booth level and that is the biggest strength,’’ he said in Hubballi on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, Bommai said the third phase of the pre-poll campaign is on and BJP is on a firm footing.
“After Booth Vijay, booth-level Vijay Sankalp yatra, now the 'Vijay Sankalp' yatra has been taken up. The conferences of all the morchas are going on. According to him, one of the other organizational works is going in all 224 Assembly segments,’’ he said.
Tremendous success
The Chief Minister said there has been a tremendous response from the people to the works done by his predecessor B S Yediyurappa, the works of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last eight years, and also his works in the last one and a half years.
“The BJP will come to power with the complete majority,’’ he said and taunted Shivakumar by pointing out that he may have been actually referring to the likely tally of Congress party when he said BJP will win 65 seats.
On the possibility of denying tickets to the sitting BJP legislators, he said every election will be different there is no example of giving the tickets to all the sitting MLAs.
“The tickets will be given only after the survey, performance and other yardsticks,’’ he said.
Confident in joining BJP
On former minister and Ballari mining baron G Janardhana Reddy returning to BJP, Bommai said so far Reddy has not announced his decision. “He has been in state politics for a very long time and will take a suitable decision. But Reddy indeed has an old relationship with BJP,’’ he said.
Sumalatha Ambarish joining BJP
On Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, who had won as an Independent with BJP support, joining BJP, the Chief Minister said she has met BJP National President J P Nadda and held several rounds of discussions in this regard. “She will announce her final decision today,’’ he said.
To a question on the possibility of defections from different parties, Bommai said this is natural in politics, especially during elections. “People are coming and going to different parties. Let us wait and watch,’’ he said.
Modi to visit on March 12
The Chief Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Dharwad on March 12 to inaugurate IIT, Jal Jeevan Mission and Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology.
As Modi regime has been providing generous grants to Karnataka for infrastructure development projects, Bommai said the Prime Minister will be inaugurating several completed projects and launching many other projects.
“Karnataka has received a highest allocation from the Centre for national highways, railway projects, ports and many other institutions, especially state and inter-state projects. The benefits of all the grants from the Centre are now coming to fruition, which are being opened,’’ he said.
He said the Dharwad IIT would be transformed into Number 1 in the country and pointed out that financial grants are provided in phases.
The Belekeri port is being development under the Centre’s Sagarmala project. Out of the 12 projects being taken up under Sagarmala project, the State is getting two and they are being implemented on public-private-partnership (PPP) model, he said.
Bommai later visited his home district of Haveri and participated in the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Haveri district milk producers societies federation and SKA Foods Speciality company’s UHT Milk Packing Unit and Milk Sachet Packing Unit.
He also participated in a function for distribution of benefits to the beneficiaries under various State and Central schemes.