BJP fielding new faces to build next-generation leadership, says Arun Singh

It is not unusual that the feelings of some leaders are hurt, he says

By giving a chance to 52 new faces in the elections, the BJP is trying to build its future leadership in the state, the party’s in charge for Karnataka Arun Singh tells DH’s Amrita Madhukalya in an interview.

Excerpts.

Will the party’s gamble on new faces help counter the anti-incumbency faced by the Bommai government?

There’s no anti-incumbency against either the government or the party. The BJP gives a chance to young faces across states, while ensuring that we continue to respect senior leaders. We have done this in UP, Uttarakhand, Assam, Gujarat or Himachal Pradesh. New faces ensure that we have a future, while we take along the seniors.

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But this has led to protests by senior party leaders in the state?

It is not unusual that the feelings of some leaders are hurt. For every seat, we had over five contenders. The Congress came out with 165 names in two lists, but are scared to come up with other names, as that may spark protests. We will take all our leaders along.

Is it true that the party will not have a chief ministerial face?

I’m not in a position to say that, since we discus and deliberate over these issues. The party might declare a chief ministerial face. The work of and the growth brought about by the Bommai government will come in handy for us.

Will the party have PM Modi as the main face of the campaign?

PM Modi has popularity and he will lead the campaign in the state. We also have a slew of senior leaders like party president J P Nadda, union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani as well as chief ministers Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma, apart from party veteran B S Yediyurappa and CM Bommai campaigning for us. PM Modi’s rallies in the last month in Belagavi, Shivamogga, Mandya and Davangere drew crowds running into lakhs.

The Congress has released four key guarantees. What will be the BJP’s offering?

People of Karnataka take pride in the state and it ranks high in the ease of doing business – the state has attracted the highest number of FDIs and ranks first on the innovation index. The first Vande Bharat express ran from Karnataka, the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway and a helicopter factory were built by us. The Upper Bhadra Project has been allocated Rs 5,300 crore. We’re also sending direct benefits to crores of beneficiaries – 11 lakh students are getting Raitha Vidya Nidhi, 39 lakh people got Nal Se Jal connection and 52 lakh get PM Samman Nidhi. We’ve also brought down religious reservations from 4% to 2%.

Also, the BJP is a strong party organisationally and we have spent the last 4-5 years building ourselves from the grassroots.

The Congress is running a tight ship in Karnataka. Who do you see as the bigger contender – Siddaramaiah or D K Shivakumar?

The Congress has not prepared organisationally and they don’t have workers at the booth level. They undertook a yatra, which has built a perception. But that has been offset by groupism and infighting. There are three camps trying to outwit each other, which will benefit us. We have fielded two senior leaders V Somanna and R Ashoka against Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, respectively. The Congress is leaderless and visionless. On the other hand, PM Modi is a vote-puller for us. The Congress has merchants of false promises and we are not leaving any stone unturned to defeat them.

The JD(S) said that you’ve approached them for post-poll alliances.

We are fighting against the Congress and the JD(S) in these elections with the same fervour.