‘Cong will face 2018 polls under my leadership; will continue as CM’

Mysuru, Oct 1: Expressing confidence that he would get a second term, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Congress party would face the upcoming Assembly elections in 2018 under his leadership.

Speaking to reporters, after offering puja to the Nandi Dhwaja at Balarama Gate of Mysuru Palace to mark the inauguration of the Dasara procession the CM said that he will perform puja to the Nandi Dhwaja in the next Dasara also.

“We have given good governance and the government has no black marks. The Congress party will face the upcoming Assembly elections in 2018, again under my leadership and I will continue to offer the puja for the next five years,” Siddaramaiah said.

The CM said, “Earlier, due to drought situation in parts of the state, the government had decided to conduct simple Dasara. But the festival was grand and significant as the state received good rain in recent days.

The CM earlier had said that the BJP is under an illusion that the BJP will get 150 seats in the ensuing Assembly elections. “BJP’s ‘Mission 150’ will be a failure as people still remember their administration as a nightmare,” he added.

Supporting BJP leader Yashwant Sinha’s statement that the country’s GDP will still decline, the CM said, “After demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in November, the GDP has declined by 2%. If the Union government fails to take measures to strengthen the GDP, it will come down by another 3.7%.”