Congress candidate H.S. Shantaveerappa Gowda is confident of demolishing BJP fortress
With polling for the Shikaripur assembly by-election over, all eyes are on the results to be announced on Monday. Congress candidate H.S. Shantaveerappa Gowda who is contesting for the second time, is facing his rival and Shimoga MP B.S.Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Raghavendra of the BJP. In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Mr Gowda sounded confident of demolishing the BJP fortress this time. Excerpts:
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the Congress will win Bellary (ST) and Chikkodi constituencies but he was not sure of Shikaripur. Even before the first vote is counted, the CM seems to have conceded defeat.
No. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who campaigned in Shikaripur for two days, was confident of the party’s victory. All campaign rallies in which he participated were successful. I have no information on what he said about Bellary and Chikkodi. The Chief Minister has not conceded defeat before the first vote is counted. It is not fair to say this. He participated in the campaigns and was satisfied with the people’s response to the Congress party.
The Chief Minister might have argued based on intelligence inputs. Please comment.
As Mr Siddaramaiah was busy with his hectic campaign, I did not get much time to interact with him. But the other ministers and PWD Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa who was in-charge of Shikaripur during the campaign, had told me that the CM had been receiving a good report on the Shikaripur result from the intelligence wing. Any way, the result will be out on August 25 and the real picture will be known. There is no point in speculating on this. Everyone says the Congress will definitely win this time.
How different was the Congress campaign and strategy compared to the 2013 assembly polls?
There was a sea change in the campaign style and strategy compared to previous assembly polls. In the previous election, as a candidate, I was not satisfied with the Congress party’s involvement in electioneering. But this time, the election was fought after a lot of homework was done, all party workers and leaders have worked with better coordination.
Your opponent is very strong in Shikaripur.
If the BJP was really strong, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa should have said people will vote for Mr Raghavendra on just hearing his name.
Then what was the necessity for distributing money to woo voters? Even 2-3 days before polling day, he allegedly distributed Rs 500 per vote and also on the eve of voting day.
The former CM himself personally distributed money in the early hours on August 21. Even in the Lok Sabha election he did not spend so much money to woo voters. I wonder what made him so disturbed. The BJP’s popularity has come down.
One faction of the Congress is secretly opposed to you. Will it affect your chances?
In every party, there are groups working against candidates. I have faced this when I was in the BJP. But in this by-election, there is no such group, all leaders and party workers have worked as a team. There is no such force within the party that will affect my chances.
The alliance between the JD(S) and Congress did not work well. Why? In Shikaripur, local leaders say the Congress made the first move for the pact. But in Bengaluru, KPCC Chief Dr.G. Parameshwar contradicts the claim. What is the truth?
It is not correct to call it the JD(S)-Congress alliance a tie-up. JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy decided not to contest the by-election after consulting their leaders and workers. The JD(S) support in Shikaripur has succeeded in attracting more voters and has turned out to be a plus point for us.
Is the Congress so weak to depend on the JD(S)?
The Congress is not dependent on the JD(S) nor is it weak. When I was filing my nomination for the by-election, Mr H.T. Baligar of JD(S) came and offered support to me. I along with local party leaders discussed this with him and said if if you support us, it will also help you. This does not mean the Congress is a weak party.
Next Story
