BJP prepares for early assembly polls in Karnataka, Congress says there won't be one

The JD(S), as well as the BJP, have predicted early assembly elections in December.

Bengaluru, June 26: Political parties in Karnataka are gearing up for assembly elections but the BJP and JD(S) are preparing for an early election in December. While the Congress, especially Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has maintained that elections, as expected, will be held only in April or May of 2018, opposition parties are already drawing battle lines.

The state president of BJP B S Yeddyurappa as well the JD(S) state chief H D Kumaraswamy have predicted early elections in Karnataka. Given the slew of sops that the Congress government has announced in recent times as well as the clash of schedule with elections in other states where BJP is in power, the opposition in Karnataka feels that the Congress will call for early elections timed to their advantage.

A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rubbished the possibilities of an early election, B S Yeddyurappa reiterated that the Congress was strategically planning for early elections. "Looking at the activities of Congress' new in-charge of the state K C Venugopal it is becoming clear that the party is preparing for a December election. MLAs are being directed to focus on respective constituencies, there is a sudden increase in pressure on officials to look into developmental activities and such sudden spurt indicates to me that early elections may be called by December. We are preparing for it," said B S Yeddyurappa who added that the Congress' strategy to catch the opposition by surprise will not work.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Sunday, had said that early polls were not a possibility. "Elections in Karnataka will be held either in April or May 2018. There is no question of early elections," he said speaking to reporters. The Congress on its part is armed with the socio-economic census data which it is yet to make public. The JD(S) and BJP have accused the government of introducing many pro-Dalit and OBC schemes directly to influence voters since they now know the number of votes each community commands.

Surveys before distribution of tickets

Both, the BJP as well as the Congress, are conducting surveys to decide on ticket distribution. "An external survey will be conducted to understand ground realities and get feedback. The survey will be held throughout the state to get a correct picture and find out our probable candidate," said B S Yeddyurappa. While reports of a survey ordered by Amit Shah emerged as early as May, the BJP state president maintained that it is likely to begin only after two months.

The Congress on its part, thanks to the socio-economic survey conducted by the government, has ample information to decided caste, community, candidature matrix. However, as per the instructions of the high command, the Congress will also hold a survey before handing out tickets to probable. The fight is big for the Congress considering that Karnataka is the only large state where the party is in power.

OneIndia News