Jubilant over the victory in Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress on Saturday said the party’s win in the southern state is an outcome of the collective work of party leaders.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, said the people of all communities voted for the Congress. He said the party will work towards fulfilling its election promises.
“I thank the people of Karnataka for giving a huge mandate to the Congress. We will respect the mandate and uphold people’s belief in us. We will implement all the welfare schemes we have announced in our manifesto. I thank Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and also Sonia Gandhi who campaigned even when she wasn’t well,” Kharge said.
Targeting the BJP, he said the people have defeated a party’s government “which had indulged in corruption.”
“People of all communities voted for us. Now, we have to go miles and fulfil the promises and guarantees we made to the public. This is a result of the collective work of our workers, from booth to state level.. they worked under collective leadership,” Kharge said.
Talking to reporters after the grand old party scored an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: “I congratulate the people of Karnataka. They have sent a message across the state that the public want a politics that resolves their issues, a politics where their issues are discussed.”
She said the people of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh have proved that politics of diversion will not work anymore.
“As I said, this (coming to power in Karnataka) is a huge responsibility. We went to the people with a few guarantees and we have to fulfill them. We have to work for the people. Public will tell us what will happen next,” said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when asked about “voices” in the country that Rahul Gandhi will become the PM.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said that the saffron party spoke of “Congress mukt-Bharat” but the party itself is not in power in the southern part of the country.
Talking to reporters, Baghel said: “First we won Himachal Pradesh and then we won Karnataka. They used to speak of ‘Congress mukt-Bharat’ but now South India is ‘BJP-mukt’.” He called the results “a defeat of the Prime Minister.”
Expressing joy over the party’s performance in Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Assembly poll results confirmed that the Congress had won and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost.
Ramesh said Karnataka has rejected the BJP’s campaign which was “a referendum on the PM.”
“As the results firm up in Karnataka, it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his ‘ashirwaad’. That has been decisively rejected!”, Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
According to the Congress leader, the grand old party fought the Karnataka polls on local issues — livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption.
He accused PM Modi of having injected divisiveness and polarising voters in the elections.
“The PM injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony,” Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
Congress’ Madhya Pradesh chief Kamal Nath said the Karnataka poll results have given an indication that “politics of bargaining” will end now.
After his party’s massive victory in the southern state, he said that result showed the impact of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The victory in Karnataka has shown that people support the truth, he added.
Kamal Nath congratulated Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the entire party unit of Karnataka who worked hard to bring the party back into power. “Heartiest congratulations to Kharge ji and all Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi who has ushered a new revolution in the country through Bharat Jodo Yatra,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said that Karnataka’s victory will be repeated in Madhya Pradesh too and appealed to state Congress leaders and workers to get ready for the elections due at the end of this year.
“After massive victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, it is certain that the Congress will form the government in Madhya Pradesh as well. Every worker of the Congress should now gear up for elections,” he added.
Former CM and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh took dig at the BJP, saying the saffron party has been wiped out from the southern part of the country and they will face the same outcome in central India soon.
“The BJP has been wiped out in south India and after the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections, you will see that they will be wiped out from central India too,” he said.
