A file photo of Chakravarthy Sulibele.
Credit: DH file photo
Bengaluru: Firebrand Hindutva ideologue Chakravarthy Sulibele has publicly congratulated Congress for outdoing the BJP in having on-ground presence, making it a prominent voice from the saffron staples to concede that the Lok Sabha elections, at least in Karnataka, isn’t easy.
Sulibele said this in a video statement recapping his campaign to mobilise support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the NaMo Brigade 2.0, which wound up after the second phase of polling in Karnataka on Tuesday.
"I must accept honestly... I congratulate Congressians (sic). You’ve done very well with your on-ground work. You did this time what you didn’t do in 2014 and 2019. You did better than BJP in reaching households", Sulibele, who has close to a million followers on social media, said.
"The BJP couldn't reach most households. In fact, BJP workers used to be leaders in this. But I saw their total absence", Sulibele said. "Congress, through nonprofits - because the party doesn’t have enough workers - managed to reach homes to distribute pamphlets and guarantee cards. A big effort went into this", he said.
Sulibele maintained that he saw "an amazing" wave in favour of Modi. "Many didn’t come out openly due to an atmosphere of fear created by the Congress government", he said. "But undoubtedly, Modi is there on people's minds", he added.
Since June last year, when his pro-Modi campaign started, Sulibele said his programmes reached lakhs of people. "If Modi doesn’t get re-elected, then India will go towards a dangerous situation going by what Rahul Gandhi has been saying. He’s trying to divide castes and I know many of you may defend that. But please think about it", Sulibele said.
The firebrand orator said he cannot predict the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls. "There was a tough fight between the Modi wave and the Congress’ guarantees. Was it a vote in admiration of Modi or desire for guarantees? We’ll know only on June 4", he said.