BJP can't repeat Assembly election results in Karnataka: Moily

Raipur, Nov 18: Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily on Saturday claimed that would not be easy for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to get two third seats in Karnataka in the coming Parliamentary elections let alone repeat its performance in the Assembly polls held in May this year.

Talking to news agency, Moily said the BJP has almost lost its strength in Karnataka as the recent by-elections in the state showed. According to him, BJP at best may win two to three seats in the state.

In Kerala, the BJP despite its best efforts would not be able to open its account due to the strong coalition between Congress and communist parties, he said.

And given the strong alliance between Congress and DMK, BJP should not also hope for an entry in Tamil Nadu, Moily added.

He also sees no prospect for BJP in Telangana where the Congress, TDP and Communist Parties have formed an alliance.

Asked about a possible alliance between Congress and TDP in Andhra Pradesh, he said that it would be premature to say anything at this stage.

BJP is also in trouble in Goa, he said.

Moreover, the BJP is going to suffer in the North, claimed Moily.

Hailing the initiative of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu to forge an anti-BJP grand alliance, Moily said that Modi Government would not succeed in preventing opposition parties from uniting even after misusing CBI, ED and Income Tax Department against them.

Claiming that a strong wave is blowing in favour of Congress across the country, Moily said that BJP was losing its allies whereas Congress was gaining.

Charging Modi Government with ruining institutions, Moily said that CBI was undergoing a credibility crisis whereas ED and Income Tax Department were functioning under political pressure.

To a query over CBI, ED and Income Tax Department being pressed into action in Uttar Pradesh to queer the pitch for the SP-BSP alliance, he said that Congress would join this alliance irrespective of BJP’s attempts to prevent it. With this grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, it would be difficult for BJP to win even five seats, he said.

He slammed Modi Government for demonetisation and GST and said that such measures had ruined the country’s economy. "Situation is worse in almost all sectors," he said, adding that the government was only doing "event management."

He also charged the government with trying to destroy autonomous structure of Reserve Bank of India and said that the situation worsened after "pro-RSS" S. Gurumurthy was inducted in the board of directors.

Moily said that people's mandate after assembly elections in five states would be an indication for ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

He claimed that strong anti-incumbency waves are blowing in against BJP governments in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

When asked about questions being raised time and again over the leadership of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Moily said: "Rahul Gandhi is a dynamic leader who is working hard to take the party forward and bring it to power."

About projection of Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate in 2019 general election, he said that the decision as to who would be the Prime Minister rests on outcome.