The BJP lost the Karnataka Assembly polls as it could not work in the southern state the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi works at the national level and also failed to set a proper narrative before elections, party general secretary C T Ravi said on Monday.
The senior BJP leader said it was Opposition parties that were working for industrialists Adani and Ambani, while Modi and his party were committed to uplift the poor. Hitting out at the Congress, he said the party was associated with corruption, communalism and family politics.
Addressing a press conference here in Goa, Ravi said multiple factors were involved in the outcome of the Assembly polls in Karnataka, where the Congress put up an impressive performance last month, winning more than 130 seats in the 224-member House. The BJP bagged 65 seats, down from more than 100 in 2018.
“Due to guarantee card (pre-poll promises made by Congress), we lost 100-200 votes in each polling booth,” he said. The general secretary in-charge of Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu said the BJP could not set a proper narrative in Karnataka ahead of polls last month, which was one of the reasons for its loss in the southern state.
The BJP failed to retain power in Karnataka "as we could not work like PM (at the national level", said Ravi. Speaking further, he alleged it was Opposition parties that were working for top industrialists in the country, while the BJP was pro-poor.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a reformer, performer and transformer. The Opposition has been making baseless allegations against him. PM Modi has never worked for Adani and Ambani. It was Opposition parties which were working for Adani and Ambani,” Ravi said.
The BJP leader said the Modi government has been working for “the poor people through its welfare schemes and policies”. “Modi introduced 'Make In India' concept which will help the country become self-reliant,” he maintained.
Ravi alleged the Congress rule between 2004-2014 was linked to corruption which was not the case with the BJP-led government at the Centre.
“We have to compare the situation during the UPA (headed by Congress) to the current Modi-led rule. We can say the Congress means scam. Today there is no scam. The BJP means scheme, while the Congress means scam,” he claimed.
The BJP leader said the poor have been made part of the administrative system under the Modi government and pointed out that crores of bank accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a financial inclusion programme, since 2014.
He said the Congress means communalism and family politics. “Politics of Modi encompasses entire India, while Congress politics means only their own family members,” Ravi said. The BJP leader said political outfits like the NCP, the Samajwadi Party, the RJD, the JDS, the National Conference and the TMC are “pariwarwadi parties” (family run).
“All these parties are against the BJP. They claim democracy is under threat but there is no (internal) democracy in their own parties. There is dynasty and dictatorship,” he alleged. The BJP leader claimed foreign policies were earlier either Russia or America-centric, but now they have become "India-centric".