Pre-poll surveys indicate tough contest, but BJP to get majority, says Karnataka CM Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will get absolute majority in the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled on May 10.

Talking to reporters at the Ghati temple in Bengaluru Rural district, Bommai said that several pre-poll surveys/opinion polls have been conducted and all of them indicate a neck-to-neck fight between the BJP and the Congress.

"There is still one-and-a-half months left before the Assembly polls, and the results will be in BJP's favour," the Chief Minister said.


However, sources in the BJP confirmed that party leaders are upset with some pre-poll surveys hinting at a setback for the saffron party and electoral gains for the Congress.

Asked about the announcement of the candidates' list, Bommai said the process has started and it will be announced within a week.

On gathering opinions about the probable candidates, the Chief Minister said the booth-level office-bearers at the grassroots level are collecting opinions which would be reviewed at the taluk and district level and then sent to the BJP Parliamentary Board.

"Opposition leader Siddaramaiah is frustrated as he had declared that the 2013 Assembly elections would be his last, but he again contested in 2018. Now he is set to contest elections again.

"A person becoming the Chief Minister is not important, what is important is what he would do for the people as the CM. The people of Karnataka rejected the Congress in the 2018 Assembly elections and the same will happen on May 10," Bommai said.

Reacting to the opposition parties' statements that the 4 per cent reservation announced by the state government is a political ploy, the Chief Minister asked why did the Congress not announce it when it was in power in the state.

"This demand for reservation had been pending for the last 30 years and they (Congress) did not consider it due to lack of commitment. They treat people as vote bank. What was impossible for them has been done by the BJP government. So, they (Congress) have become frustrated and are politicising the matter," Bommai said.