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The AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, has said the BJP will not be in a position to form the next government at the Centre as it will not win more than 200 seats. “This time the outcome of Lok Sabha polls will be similar to what happened in 2004,” he told press persons in Shivamogga on Friday.
In 2004, Mr. Surjewala said the India Shining campaign had failed and the Congress-led UPA came to power. “This time, the BJP will not get more than 180–190 seats. When they are not in a position to cross even 200, they are campaigning Abki Baar, 400 paar”, he said.
With regard to Karnataka state, the Congress leader said the party would be winning more than 20 seats (of a total 28). “We are confident of winning more than 20 seats in the state, as we have delivered on what we promised before the assembly polls. The guarantee schemes promised by the party have been benefiting the needy. The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were ridiculing our guarantee schemes, have now stolen the concept of ‘guarantee’ and made extensive use of it in their campaign,” he said.
Displaying the Congress party’s advertisement in which the Central Government was criticized by showing an empty container (chombu in Kannada) for not releasing funds to the state, Mr. Surjewala said while the Congress was showing a guarantee model for the country, the Centre had been following a ‘Chombu Model’. He alleged that the Centre had not released funds it assured to the state and did not respond to problems being faced by people in the state due to drought.
Mr. Surjewala said that the Congress would come to power and implement the five guarantees promised in the Lok Sabha election manifesto. “The guarantees will benefit women, youth, workers, and farmers,” he said.
Answering a question, the Congress leader defended the guarantee schemes, saying that 60% of the country’s wealth had been in the possession of only 20 people. Through welfare measures, the Congress would wish to address the inequality, he maintained.
Crime
With regard to the murder of a student in Hubballi, Mr. Surjewala said the police arrested the accused within six hours of the incident. “I have spoken to the Home Minister on this issue. We will ensure the accused get the hardest punishment as per law,” he said.
District Congress Committee president R. Prasanna Kumar, Minister for School Education Madhu Bangarappa, B.K. Sangameshwara, Beluru Gopala Krishna, MLAs, and others were present at the press conference.
