PM Narendra Modi factor did not work: Jagadish Shettar

Hubli: Even as the results of the byelections came in on Monday, leader of the opposition in the Assembly  Jagadish Shettar   blamed “misuse” of government machinery for the BJP’s defeat in the Bellary and Chikkodi bypolls. Trying to make light of the defeat, he told reporters here  it was common for the party in power  to win  bypolls. The setback to the BJP was temporary and its leaders would work hard to strengthen it in the state, he declared.

"We  put in hard work to retain at least two Assembly seats, but we failed to win Bellary as people always prefer to vote for the party  in power. This was also evident during the previous BJP government when we won 18 byelections  in five years,” he noted, however , charging the Congress with using money power and misusing official machinery to win the seats.

Asked why the Modi wave had not worked in favour of the BJP this time, Mr Shettar said people had voted for the party during the Lok Sabha elections because they wanted Narendra Modi to become PM. "National and state politics are different, which is why the Modi charisma  did not work during the byelections to the assembly," he claimed.