Karnataka: To consolidate party vote, Congress goes back to the booths
BENGALURU: In a determined bid to thwart the BJP from gaining through a spilt in secular votes owing to the presence of parties such as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Jana Samanyara Paksha (JSP), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), All India Mahila Empowerment Party (AIMEP), All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Janata Dal (S), the ruling Congress has scripted a strategy to register at least 50 new votes in every polling station in order to maintain a good lead in forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior Congress leader disclosed that the biggest cause for concern would be the presence of candidates of fringe parties as well as independents who contest elections merely to play spoilsport. "The BJP is known for employing this trick in almost every election after the emergence of Modi-Shah combine four years ago. The BJP's overtures towards JD(S) is already known as one to undermine the prospects of Congress in no less than 100 seats. The strength of JD(S) is in Vokkaliga heartland which comprises of less than 80 seats, but the party will surely field candidates in more than 200 seats, which means to say it will only play spoilsport and help the BJP defeat the Congress," the leader added.
The leader also stated that apart from JD(S), many fringe parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Jana Samanyara Paksha (JSP), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), All India Mahila Empowerment Party (AIMEP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) could also play spoilsport in many constituencies although these entities are not even strong enough to finish third but could surely disturb voter matrix in some constituencies where the victory margin would be very narrow between candidates of the BJP and Congress.
“Therefore, the party has come up with a plan to increase at least 50 votes each in every polling booth which means the party will have additional cushion of anywhere between 7000 to 10000 votes in every constituency as each constituency consists of on an average of 200 to 250 polling stations,” the leader explained.
