Bengaluru: Taking potshots at BJP leaders for their comments on an opinion poll in favour of the ruling Congress, CM Siddaramaiah on Monday said these leaders were unable to come to terms with reality about the dim prospects of their party.
He told the media soon after former Union minister C M Ibrahim submitted his nomination forms for bypoll to the Legislative Council that his party had nothing to do with the survey carried out by C fore. “The survey has said the Congress will return to power. What else can the Opposition say about it? The survey suggests that BJP will win around 65 seats and JD(S), 30. Unable to digest the facts, they are making these allegations,” he added.
Dismissing charges by BJP leaders that officers of ACB were registering cases against BJP leaders because of pressure from the government, Mr Siddaramaiah said the ACB was an autonomous body and the institution had investigated and filed case against BJP leaders. “If they are not guilty and not afraid, they should go and explain before the court. If the police have forced Mr Basavarajendra to make false statement, let that also be inquired into. He makes these claims after nine days of filing the case. The BJP leaders are caught on the wrong foot and so they are talking like this,” he added.
On his part, Mr C.M. Ibrahim dismissed reports that he would quit the Congress soon.
‘Congress didn’t commission Survey’
Even as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party charged that the C fore survey, which predicted a landslide victory for the ruling Congress if the Assembly elections are held now, was commissioned by the ruling Congress, the agency clarified that it conducted the survey independently.
Founder and chief executive of Cfore, Premchand Palety told Deccan Chronicle that the survey was not commissioned by the Congress party. “It was done for a private news channel in Karnataka. However, on seeing the results, they dragged their feet on telecasting it. So, I had to publish it and I approached the Chief Minister’s office. I myself mailed the survey report to all media heads, so the question of the Congress commissioning or influencing the results is out of question.”
He said that his agency had been involved in this work for the last 17 years. “As far as Karnataka is concerned, our agency was bang on target in 2008 and 2013,” he asserted. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s claims that it was a ‘Congress survey’ which should not be taken seriously, attracted a sharp reaction from the Chief Minister’s camp with his media advisor, Dinesh Aminmattu lambasting BJP leaders who questioned the survey report.
