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Made mistakes but BJP will return to Karnataka: Former CM Sadananda Gowda
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By Anjali Ojha Bengaluru, April 12
Admitting that the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) paid for its "mistakes" in Karnataka in the
2013 assembly polls, union minister and former Karnataka Chief Minister
D.V. Sadananda Gowda has said that the party is getting its act
together to return to power in the state in the elections three years
from now.
"The BJP will come back in Karnataka. This is better
for the state and the people know it," Gowda, who is the Law Minister,
told IANS in an interview here.
The Bharatiya Janata Party formed
its first government in south India in Karnataka between 2008 and 2013.
However, the party lost the 2013 assembly elections reduced to a measly
40 seats in the 224 member assembly.
"We lost due to our
mistakes... Because of the internal problems, we lost Karnataka. But the
support base is still there," Gowda contended.
Gowda had taken
over as chief minister in August 2011 after B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned
after the state Lokayukta indicted him for his involvement in a mining
scam.
While Yeddyurappa had handpicked Gowda, they fell out and Jagdish Shettar became the chier minister in July 2012.
Yeddyurappa,
a popular leader who belongs to the strong Lingayat community, broke
off from the BJP before the 2013 assembly polls to form his own party.
While the BJP was decimated, Yeddyurappa's Karnataka Janata Paksha could
win only six seats.
Yeddyurappa returned to the BJP ahead of last year's Lok Sabha elections and is now one of its vice presidents.
According
to sources, he is likely to be given a prominent position in the state
party once the court cases against him are decided.
Asked if
Yeddyurappa is likely to be the party's chief ministerial candidate
party in 2018 assembly polls, Gowda said: "He is already at an important
position in the party."
Gowda said that the ruling Congress was
bogged down by "infighting" and the people were suffering due to the
state government's "poor performance".
"In a short span, people are tired of the Congress. The fighting within the party has left the people in lurch," Gowda claimed.
"BJP is better for Karnataka and we will soon come back to power," he added.
The
BJP held in Bengaluru earlier this month its first national executive
meeting since the Narendra Modi government came to power last May. The
meeting was held in Bengaluru with an ostensible aim to expand in the
south, where the party is relatively weak.
Asked about the
party's expansion plans in the southern states, Gowda said the BJP's
membership campaign is getting "a good response" and hoped it will
convert into votes.
He said the party's membership in Kerala had reached 23 lakh.
"These are states where we had no base, we are expecting a major change in the coming elections," he said.
(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at [email protected])