NEW DELHI: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who scripted a thumping win for the Congress in final 12 months’s Assembly elections, is optimistic that his get together will win no less than 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats within the State within the upcoming normal elections. The Congress chief, who’s known as DKS has additionally claimed that JDS-BJP alliance is “not working well” within the state.
In the 2019 normal election, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) gained 26 of the 28 seats within the state. The Congress and JD(S), which had been operating a coalition authorities again then and fought the elections collectively, secured one seat every. It was a dismal efficiency for the Congress within the 2019 normal election in comparison with the 9 seats it had gained within the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
However, the get together beneath the DKS management swept up 135 of the 224 seats within the Karnataka Assembly polls in 2023. In an unique dialog with ANI, the Congress chief who’s the present president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) stated, “See, we work collectively. In the last three years, I have had the opportunity to be president. Now it is the fourth year. So, all of them cooperated. I believe in the collective leadership that we showed. Whatever we had, we still thought the party had to come to power.”
“Now, as far as Parliament (elections) are concerned, we are still hoping…,” Shivakumar stated. “We wanted a lot of our ministers to contest. But all of them wanted to stay in state politics. Now, I am still hoping that we will get nearly 20 seats,” the veteran Congress chief stated. Asked about an obvious ‘Modi wave’ and the reluctuance of Karnataka Congress ministers to battle parliament elections, DKS stated “It is not like that. As far as Karnataka is concerned, any wave will not work. The Bharatiya Janata Party is crumbling. You know how many MPs–almost 10 MPs–could not get tickets. There was a lot of anti-incumbency.”
The BJP, he stated, is in “very bad shape” in Karnataka. “They (the BJP) have changed and shifted the MPs and ministers. So, I think, compared to other parts of the country, the BJP is in very bad shape in Karnataka,” claimed Shivakumar. Referring to a press release by the previous Chief Minister and JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy, Shivakumar stated, “You see the statement of Mr Kumaraswamy yesterday has not been taken well. He has come out openly. All these things are there. Their alliance is not working well. People will not accept that alliance.”
Shivakumar reiterated his confidence within the individuals’s mandate for the Congress get together. “I am confident that with the way we look at local issues, we look at the local problems, When we do hard work, we have to look at the people’s wishes, the problem of the people. Then they should have confidence on us. That is why they vote us. Otherwise, it will not happen.”
Voting for Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka will happen in two phases on April 26 and May 7. In 2019, the BJP gained 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent. Congress gained 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, whereas JD(S) and Independent gained one seat every in Karnataka. The normal election for 543 Lok Sabha seats shall be held in seven phases beginning April 19, with counting to be held on June 4. Karnataka has a complete of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, together with 5 seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates. Voting throughout all seats in Karnataka shall be held within the second and third phases of the elections on April 26 and May 7 respectively.
