Reacting sharply to the defeat of the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly election, its alliance partner JD(U) said that the result of the election had proved beyond doubt that issues are more important than individuals and even campaigners like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could not influence the people’s verdict.
The Bihar JD(U) president and MP Vashishtha Narayan Singh told The Pioneer that the results of Karnataka Assembly election should be taken as a “warning” to those who believe that they can emerge victorious in the people’s court by imposing individuals on the electorate. “Issues will be more important than individuals in the future elections,” he reiterated.
“The Karnataka election results also pose a great challenge to the Congress as its leaders are involved in a wide range of corruption cases,” he remarked.
He said that voters will give their mandate in the 2014 lok Sabha elections in a similar way as the issue of governance is going to emerge as the most dominant factor in the election.
The JD(U) leader said that the people were completely dissatisfied with the way the BJP Government ruled Karnataka and hence the people voted in the favour of the Congress.
Since no party had declared its leader prior to the polls, issues like corruption primarily dominated the electoral scene and voters rejected the ruling BJP in the election ultimately.
One more fact should be also taken into consideration that two national parties — the BJP and the Congress — were the main contenders to the power in Karnataka and hence the outcome of the election also gives an idea how the issues will be deciding factors in elections and not their leaders, he noted.
The JD(U) leader said that voters will elect only those who care about regional aspirations and also take care of the poverty stricken people, apparently referring to Bihar’s demand for the special status.
“Welfare of all sections of the society should be the supreme agenda of any Government and it should also have a clear views on it,” he reasoned.
JD(U) MlC Devesh Chandra Thakur told newspersons in Patna that as a partner of the BJP, his party is also feeling sad about the performance of the BJP, attributing the defeat to the “internal wrangling” in the BJP.
Stressing on the importance of the “coalition dharma”, he said that the BJP should work with its alliance partners in a close cooperation if it wants to return to the power.