Karnataka assembly elections 2018: Modi wave sweeping state, says Yeddyurappa

Riding a ‘Modi wave’, the BJP will form the next government in Karnataka with absolute majority, its chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa said on Monday. He also ruled out a post-poll alliance with the JD(S) ‘as of now’. Pollsters have predicted a hung Assembly in Karnataka, with neither the ruling Congress nor the BJP attaining a majority. They have said the JD(S) of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda would emerge as the kingmaker.

Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat strongman who had supported the demand for religious minority status for the community when he headed the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) that he had formed after breaking away from BJP, said the issue would not hurt the electoral prospects of the saffron party and instead ‘backfire’ on the ruling Congress.

The state BJP chief also said the saffron party was campaigning as a ‘united force’ to achieve the mission of winning 150 seats in the May 12 Assembly polls.

"The Lingayat issue will not affect us. This will backfire on Congress,” he said.

The Siddaramaiah government had recently recommended to the Centre religious minority status for Lingayats and its sub-caste Veerashaiva Lingayats, in an apparent move to cut into the solid vote base of the BJP.

The Lingayats, who account for about 17 per cent of the state’s population, have a large presence in north and central Karnataka, especially in Shivamogga, Davanagere and Chitradurga, where their votes can be critical to the electoral outcome.

75-year-old Yeddyurappa, who has won seven times from Shikaripura, said he would triumph with a huge margin from his home seat, as the Lingayats would not let him down.

Asked if the BJP’s alleged ‘communal politics’ would work for it in coastal Karnataka, Yeddyurappa said, “There is no such thing out there. Congress is spreading lies. There is only Modi wave and we are going to sweep not only the coastal region but the entire state.” He said the party would secure a majority and form the government. “There is no question of post-poll alliance with JD(S) as of now,” Yeddyurappa said.