BJP will see historic mandate in South India, people will vote for PM Modi, says Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya

Rahul Gandhi won't find another Wayanad; South India will become BJP fortress: Tejasvi Surya

In an exclusive interview with News18, BJP’s Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya asserted that the saffron party will secure a historic mandate in the south in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“We (BJP) are very clear that the people of the states in the southern part of the country are waiting to go to polls, to repose their faith in the Prime Minister again. You will see a historic mandate from the south of India this time,” he said.

On PM Modi’s target of 50 seats in South India

Surya said the BJP cadre had been working hard in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. “The PM has given transformational results and people feel it. People feel the difference and there is no need for advertisements to showcase it,” he said.

According to him, the initiative En Mann, En Makkal was introduced to take the message of the PM in a localised way. Surya said the BJP has been re-energised in Tamil Nadu under Annamalai’s leadership.

Of the roughly 129 Lok Sabha seats in the south, the BJP managed to win just 29 in the previous general election. A majority of these victories came in Karnataka, where BJP won 25 seats.

Impact of Rajya Sabha polls in Karnataka on BJP

Surya said that what made the party more upset was not the result of the Rajya Sabha election in Karnataka but what happened after it. “With respect to the cross-voting that took place, it was expected that a couple of them, especially the likes of Somashekar, would do what they did. Some people come to politics with an ideological conviction, others do not. This is a part of the process,” he told News18.

According to him, the Lok Sabha election is “a very different ball game”. “In the Lok Sabha, the vote will be for Narendra Modi, for the BJP at the national level and the people’s vote will be for the next 25 years of rule in the country. The PM enjoys unblemished popularity in all parts of Karnataka, the state literally worships the PM. I can very confidently tell you that BJP will cross at least 25 seats in Karnataka,” he said.

‘New low’ for Congress

Surya also took a dig at the Congress workers and a few supporters of Naseer Hussain for allegedly raising "pro-Pakistan slogans" after the Rajya Sabha poll results were declared. He said an FIR was filed and the state BJP unit sought an unconditional apology from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “Shouting pro-Pakistan slogans in celebration of a Rajya Sabha victory by the Congress is a new low for the Congress’s already low standards. People in Karnataka are watching and will teach the Congress a very costly lesson in the elections,” he said.

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He said the Congress DNA has always been one of appeasement. “So, it is not very surprising that anti-India or pro-Pakistan slogans have come at a Congress party event. It is not surprising, given the Congress’s tendencies,” said the BJP MP.

On Rahul Gandhi and Wayanad

Surya said that Rahul Gandhi will not find "another Wayanad" in south India, referring to the Congress leader's victory from the Kerala constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“We have heard of visiting professors in colleges, Rahul Gandhi is a visiting MP. He was one in Amethi and is the same in Wayanad. People want MPs who are invested in their constituencies, who spend time and energy for the welfare of the people. When that is absent, you will see people like Rahul Gandhi hopping constituencies,” he said.

He further said that South India will turn into a fortress of the BJP and “there will not be another Wayanad for Rahul Gandhi”.