Former minister and BJP senior leader KS Eshwarappa who had said that BJP did not want a single Muslim vote, has now changed his mind. Exuding confidence about a victory in Karnataka, Eshwarappa said that all nationalist Muslims were voting for the BJP. Speaking to the media after casting his vote in Shivamogga on Wednesday, May 10, Eshwarappa said, “Nationalist Muslims, nationalist Christians and Hindutvawadis are all voting for BJP. We will get more than 140 seats in Karnataka."
The senior BJP leader had recently stepped down from electoral politics on instructions from the BJP high command. He said he was elated to have received a call from PM Modi after his move to retire from poll politics. He had said, "Within a few minutes of getting a call from the party's high command, I wrote the letter and resigned from electoral politics. I did not delay in obeying the orders of the party. Many of my supporters came home and expressed their anger over the decision. However, hundreds of people, well-wishers from different parts of the state called and appreciated my decision."
Karnataka Assembly has 224 seats, and a party or coalition needs to cross the halfway mark of 112 to form the government. In 2018, BJP won 104 seats, Congress 78 seats and JD(S) 37 seats. After bye-elections in 2019, the BJP walked away with Congress and JD(S) legislators and their numbers in the Assembly increased to 120, while the Congress was reduced to 69 and JD(S) 32.
This time, the Congress campaign has focussed on the failings of the incumbent BJP The BJP has sought to counter this by invoking the personality of the Prime Minister and the power of ‘double engine’ government. The JD(S) meanwhile, has been appealing for a rejection of both national parties.