Mangalore/Bangalore: Union petroleum minister Veerappa Moily does not feel the elections in the four states in which the Congress fared poorly, are the ‘semi finals’ leading to the general elections and asserted that his party would come to power for a third term in 2014.
“We do not panic after poll results. Ultimately the Congress will lead the next government at the Centre. We never considered this as a semi final,” Moily said while talking to reporters in Mangalore. He denied the possibility of anti-incumbency working against the Congress led Central government. “Anti-incumbency works when the government does not perform. But we have an exceptional record,” he added.
When asked about the BJP led NDA’s prospects, Moily quipped: “When various NDA partners are splitting away, how can they come to power? The BJP cannot come to power on its own. Even the Congress can’t. We need help from others”.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismissed reports of a Narendra Modi wave in the country in the wake of BJP doing well in the Assembly elections. “There is no Modi wave. In fact there is no connection between Modi and the states which went to Assembly polls.
Problems related to states are different from those haunting the nation,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an FKCCI event in Bangalore. The poll results would not have any impact on Congress prospects in Karnataka when it faces Lok Sabha elections next year, Siddaramaiah stated.
The results clearly indicate that people have responded positively to BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi's leadership, said BJP state president Prahlad Joshi who congratulated Shivraj Singh Chauhan for winning a third consecutive term in Madhya Pradesh.
KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar said the Congress party with all humility, accepts the people’s mandate but this is not the end. “We will take these results as a challenge and work hard to win more seats in the general elections. I believe that the results will have no bearing on the general elections as Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are fought on different issues,” he said.
Janata Dal (S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy ruled out the Modi factor being responsible for the Congress defeat and said the results will have no bearing on the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.
