New Delhi [India], March 29 : Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday attacked the ruling BJP in poll-bound Karnataka, alleging that the party treated former chief minister BS Yediyurappa as "use and throw".
The remark by the Congress leader came hours after the Election Commission announced the dates for the Karnataka Assembly polls.
Speaking to , Venugopal said, "Yediyurappa is the tallest leader of the BJP (in Karnataka). But they used him only to get some Lingayat votes. Why did they unseat Yediyurappa just a year before the election? They told him to resign. Why? Now they are saying Yediyurappa is our biggest leader. Where is the logic in this? People will understand the 'use and throw' policy of BJP."
He said the Congress party is confident of forming the government on its own in the upcoming polls.
"We are very confident of forming the government on our own strength. We have been in the field over the last one year, garnering public support ahead of the Karnataka elections. Karnataka is being ruled by one of the most corrupt governments ever. People are saying that this government is 40-per cent corrupt. There is definitely a wave in favour of the Congress. We will win Karnataka hands down," he said.
The Congress leader added that the previous government led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah had provided a clean and reformed administration.
"We gave the most progressive, development-oriented and inclusive government to Karnataka. We will continue in a similar vein if voted back and, in fact, take it a notch above. We aren't just going for negative campaigns. We are focussing on our poll promises, topping which is to strive to make Karnataka one of the best states," Venugopal said.
He added that disqualified Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will also be campaigning for the party in the poll-bound state.
"All our senior leaders will campaign in Karnataka. We should have a clear campaign plan. Rahul Gandhi will, in all certainty, campaign for Karnataka polls," he added.
Earlier, on Wednesday, the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections. Polling would take place in a single phase on May 10, and the counting of votes has been scheduled for May 13.
The CEC informed that over 58,000 polling stations would be set up across the state.
Meanwhile, Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly, currently has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and former ally JD(S) holds 28 seats.
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