Mysuru: Chief Minsiter Siddaramaiah has predicted that the ruling Congress party would return to power again with more than 132 seats in the 2018 assembly election while dismissing talk of a BJP revival.
Speaking after inaugurating a multi-village water scheme worth Rs 205 crores to provide water from Kapila river, for 131 villages of Gundlupet taluk, at Terakanambi village in in Chamarajnagar district on Wednesday, Mr Siddaramaiah said, "the pre-poll survey done by a private agency has predicted that Congress will win more than 120 seats, we are sure to win again with more than 132 seats. During the previous election, the pre-poll survey had predicted 119 seats but we won 121," he said.
He continued, "We have fulfilled 155 out of 165 promises made during elections and we have lived upto our promises. So people of the state are with us. Gundlupet elected a Congress candidate in the recent by election. People of Gundlupet must elect Ms Geetha Mahadevprasad again in the 2018 assembly elections. Her husband, late H.S. Mahadevprasad worked for the development of the entire Chamarajnagar district. People of Chamarajnagar must elect candidates of our party in all four constituencies in 2018. They (BJP) speak of Mann ki baath but we believe in Kaam ki baath, we work to bring it true," he said.
"The BJP does not have any ethical right to speak about farmers. They should press upon the Centre to waive off Rs 41,000 crore worth farm loans in nationalised banks, when we are facing a drought," he said.
Speaking to the media near his residence at Sharadadevinagar, Mr Siddaramaiah said that the Income-Tax raids on Congress leaders and workers including energy minister D.K. Shivakumar, were intended to demoralise them ahead of the Legislative assembly elections in 2018.
When asked about the I-T raid on the house of Vijay Mulgund, a close aide of D.K. Shivakumar, he said, "these raids are being conducted to target Congress leaders, with malicious political intentions."
