Bengaluru: BJP state in-charge and national general secretary Harish Dwivedi on Tuesday said the party will work together with the aim of forming a government in Karnataka again in 2028. He was speaking to reporters in Bengaluru after calling on former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa.
This is his first visit to Karnataka since being appointed state in-charge, he said. He said he held a state office-bearers’ meeting and a core committee meeting with the state president the previous day, an introductory meeting that discussed the party organisation and how to make it more active.
Attacks on the Congress government
- Dwivedi said the Congress government had neglected issues ranging from corruption to those of ordinary people over about three and a half years, and alleged that Congress leaders, MLAs, MPs and ministers were looting.
- He criticised the recent hike in milk prices, saying it was raised by about ₹8, and that curd prices were also raised.
- He said the Congress was concerned only with its leaders’ development and the interests of the Gandhi family, and that the BJP would take up public-interest issues with people in the coming days.
SIR and electoral rolls
Responding to a question on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he said it is not being done only under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and has been held from time to time from Jawaharlal Nehru’s time to Indira Gandhi’s. He said it is done to remove names of the dead, correct entries of those who have moved, and fix duplicate entries, in other words to clean the voter list. He said that when the Congress loses elections it blames the Election Commission, EVMs and the Supreme Court instead of introspecting, and claimed voters had given a clear message by electing BJP-NDA candidates by large margins in all four recent MLC seats in Karnataka.
Alliance and leadership
Asked whether the BJP-JD(S) alliance will continue, Dwivedi said it is continuing at present, that decisions on the alliance are taken by the party leadership and he is not authorised to decide on it, and that it is going well for now. He said B.Y. Vijayendra is the party’s state president, that everyone is working together under his leadership and that he is a young leader.
Dwivedi also said he sought the guidance of Yediyurappa, a senior BJP leader and member of the party’s Parliamentary Board. State president Vijayendra and MP Govind Karjol were present.
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