Bengaluru: On the eve of first phase of Lok Sabha polls, leaders of state unit of BJP expressed confidence about winning more seats than their previous tally of 17, making the most of differences between the coalition partners in Karnataka.
The leaders are confident of making inroads into traditional vote banks of Congress and JD (S) which figure in the list of 14 parliamentary seats going to polls on Thursday, according to a confidant of state unit president B S Yeddyurappa. Some of these seats are held by Congress MPs but BJP candidates are set to put up a tough fight and wrest some of these constituencies as part of the strategy to win at least seven seats on Thursday and more than ten out of 14 in the second phase scheduled for April 23.
Sources said the party would certainly retain its stranglehold over coastal and southern Karnataka, including three key seats in Bengaluru.
Sources said the party would sweep most constituencies in the second phase thanks to its strong support base in north Karnataka. Of the 14 constituencies scheduled to go to polls on April 23, the party could win at least 10 seats in Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions. The leaders would pull out all the stops to win Kalaburagi constituency, represented by veteran Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge, and thus upset the calculations of coalition partners. An upset in Kalaburagi would prove a major setback for the Congress as Mr Kharge has proved his invincibility in this constituency, sources added. Union ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and Mr Ananth Kumar Hegde are among those fate would be sealed in the first phase of polling on Thursday, sources added.
