As the grand old party holds its Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir yatra to revive its grassroots connect, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that he was confident about the Congress winning 150 seats in the upcoming assembly elections in the state. He also said that they will achieve the number without any alliance. The state assembly has 224 seats.
Talking to reporters at Ballari, DK Shivakumar said, “After seeing the massive response to Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, I am sure that we will win in 150 assembly seats alone and form the government without any support.”
“This time, the people will give a clear mandate and the Congress government is going to come back to power in 2023,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
By Saturday, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is being led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, covered 1,000 km. He was in the Ballari district of the state on Saturday. During his footmarch, Rahul Gandhi has called out the ruling government several times.
“The BJP government in Karnataka is the most corrupt government in the country. The government and their leaders charge 40% for every government approval and the people of Karnataka are going to teach them a lesson in an upcoming election,” he said in one of the addresses.
He also made clear that there is no rift inside the Congress party in the state. When asked about the party’s chief ministerial candidate, Gandhi said, “We have an expectational team in Karnataka and currently our focus is only to win people’s mandate in the state in an upcoming election. After winning, we will decide about chief ministerial candidate based on a process that is carried out in Congress party”
In the 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka, the Congress won 80 seats out of 222 seats and formed the government with the alliance of Janata Dal (Secular) party which won 37 seats. However, in 2019 BJP formed the government in the state after the Congress-JDS coalition lost the trust vote in the house.
A day before the party gears up to choose its next chief between two contenders – Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge – on Monday, Kharge told ANI: “In Karnataka, 100% our party will come back to power. Our leaders are working hard. They (BJP-RSS) are misusing autonomous bodies and the government machinery here.”
(With inputs from ANI)
