CM's jibe triggers North-South row

Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday not only dismissed the surveys which predicted a hung assembly for Karnataka, saying that he did not believe in such forecasts, he also repeated his charge that the JD(S) had entered into an unofficial understanding with the BJP in several places, while insisting it would not impact the Congress in any way. 

“When  there are around two lakh voters,    how can interviewing 4,000 people give any indication? I don’t believe in surveys, they are not reliable,” he said while speaking to reporters on his arrival at the Mysuru airport. He said: “I have the pulse of the people. They have decided to vote for the  Congress. The trend is already set and we will get a clear majority.” 

On the collusion between the JD(S) and the BJP, the CM said: “In Chamundeswari the BJP has given the ticket to some unknown person to support the JD (S), and in Varuna, the JD(S) wanted to support the BJP. It’s the same story in KR Nagar. They are doing this in many other constituencies,”     he claimed. Asked how the Congress intended to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s  six rounds of campaigning through the state, ahead of the polls and BJP national president, Amit Shah’s plans to visit it five times more, Siddaramaiah, mocking at the Karnataka BJP unit, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath ‘North Indian imports’ to the May 12 election campaign and said it had no leaders in the state. 

Siddaramaiah said in a tweet that BJP's chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa had been reduced to a “dummy.” 

“@BJP4Karnataka by waiting for North Indian imports like PM Modi, UPCM Adityanath is admitting they have no leaders in the state. They have reduced their CM face @BSYBJP to a dummy,”Siddaramaiah tweeted. He further said the Prime Minister may come and go, but here it is a battle between him and     Yeddyurappa, and the saffron party knows who is winning in the May 12 Assembly polls.

Countering the chief minister, the BJP tweeted: "Imports? How much low can you stoop Mr CM? Your attempt at North-South divide is disgusting. But we understand your anxiety. While you are rejected by your own constituents, PM Modi has a pan India appeal. It's time you learn a thing or "two about leadership when he's here."