Gujarat outcome will have no effect on Karnataka's 2018 polls: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru, Dec 18: The outcome of the Gujarat elections will have no effect on Karnataka's own 2018 Assembly elections said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Monday.

Speaking to reporters here in Ballari, he said because 18 Congress MLAs and opposition leaders like Shankar Singh Vaghela have joined BJP, Congress had suffered a setback in Gujarat polls.

"But Congress has won more seats compared to the last elections, mainly because of the influence AICC president Rahul Gandhi bears over the voters," Siddaramaiah said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah had visited Gujarat 50 times before the election. BJP chief ministers from across the country had done so too."

"Voters of Karnataka will only consider the development work done by the government. This, I have realised after 40 years in politics. The Congress will again come to power in the state," he said expressing confidence.

Though demonitisation and GST have had a favourable impact in Gujarat, it will backfire against the BJP in Karnataka, the CM asserted.

KPCC's president's reaction

KPCC President Dr G Parameshwara said that Congress had performed well in the Gujarat polls by winning more seats compared to the last elections.

Speaking to reporters in Tumakuru on Monday, he refrained from commenting further, saying that he wished to wait until a clear picture had emerged.

Again he pitched for a return to using ballot papers for polls and not electronic voting machines (EVM); saying that an American university had proved that EVMs can be tampered with.

Based on the Congress party's performance in Gujarat, he expressed confidence that Congress would come to power again in Karnataka in the 2018 polls.