Cong vote bank in tact in Karnataka: Ambika

Puducherry, May 27: Asserting that Congress has retained its vote bank in the Karnataka Assembly polls, Union Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs Ambika Soni today said the BJP had evoked the sympathy of the people by harping on the issue of it not being able to govern the state.

In a brief interaction with newspersons after launching a private beach resort, about 20 km from here, she said the Congress had made an honest campaign highlighting the programmes.

''But the BJP evoked the sympathy of the people by not being able to govern the state, which tilted the scales in their favour'', she added.

Observing that winning and losing was part of Democracy, Ms Ambika Soni said the Congress, though it did not win enough seats to form the government, had retained its vote bank.

''We have 80 members. We will perform the role of a constructive opposition and keep the ruling BJP on their toes. They have only wafer-thin margin and we will keep them on their toes and ensure that they honour all the poll promises made to the people,'' she added.

On increasing security measure for visiting tourists in the country, she said security measures had been put in place. ''We have formed a Tourism Task force with officials from the Home Ministry and the Defence Ministry to put in place proper security measures.'' ''We have also urged all the states to provide maximum security to the tourists'', she added.

UNI