Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister, D.V. Sadananda Gowda exudes confidence that he will win by a huge margin from Bangalore North and dismisses the Aam Aadmi Party as “tried, tested and rejected,” in a chat with Deccan Chronicle. Excerpts:
What are the winning chances of the candidates in Bangalore North? Are you accepted by the Vokkaligas in the constituency?
AAP is tried, tested and rejected. People will not have faith in them. The constituency is one of the biggest in the country. It has over 24 lakh voters and I have been accepted by them all, and all communities. As a chief minister I delivered and did not associate with any one community. No one could point fingers at my administration.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is making the battle for Bangalore North a prestige issue. Do you think you can counter him?
When the Siddaramaiah government itself has failed to make a mark, how can a candidate backed by Mr. Siddaramaiah pose a tough challenge? Is it possible? The Governor himself has criticised the Congress government. The Anna Bhagya scheme is embroiled in a Rs 150 crore scam.
Do you think the Cobra Post sting operation will dent the image of the BJP?
This is a very old issue. It has been discussed in court and parliament several times. The Congress is mired in various controversies and wants to divert the attention of voters. Whenever it runs out of issues it rakes up decade old ones. The Muslim community is behind the BJP after seeing the administration in Gujarat. It does not want to be isolated and intends to be part of united India.
But Imam Bukhari has asked the minority community to stay away from the BJP.
India is a democratic country and everybody can have their say and express their views and opinions. They will not have any impact on the party’s victory.
Your party is banking on a Modi wave when he himself has been charged with a snoop scandal.
Like I said earlier, the Congress only rakes up old issues. The people of Gujarat are safe and the allegations of the opposition are far from true. They will not have any impact at all.
