The exit poll surveys released on Sunday have been causing ripples across the country. Various exit polls have predicted a comfortable win for the NDA with 300+ seats. This seems to have riled up the opposition will opposition leaders across party lines reaching the EC’s door claiming EVM rigging and malfunction , in turn raising questions on the world’s largest democracy.
The same Exit polls seems to have caused ripples in the Karnataka Congress where senior party leader and state minister for Infrastructure, Urban development, Information and Haj, Roshan Baig has come against the party leadership of the state. Baig hit out at the Karnataka Congress calling senior Congress leader KC Venugopal a ‘buffoon’, Former chief minister Siddaramaiah ‘arrogant’ and KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao a ‘flop show’.
There are speculations that the disgruntled leader felt sidelined after he was not given the position of Deputy Chief Minister in the JD(S)-Congress coalition govt which came to power in the state last year.
The minister did not stop at this. In an interview to the Press Trust of India, he appealed to the Muslims of Karnataka ‘to compromise with the situation’ if the NDA led government happens to come back to power at the centre. He added that the muslim voters of the state must go with the BJP as he alleged that the Congress had used them for votes.
The Congress party has served him a notice, asking him to explain his comments.
Further reacting on Roshan Baig’s comments, Deputy Chief Minister Dr. G Parameshwara brushed aside his comments, calling it ‘his individual opinion’. JD(S) state president H Vishwanath on the other hand welcomed Roshan Baig’s comments saying ‘This will not affect the coalition government. Top party leaders must sit down and resolve the matter.’
With the exit polls predicting a win for the BJP in Karnataka, speculations are that the coalition government in the state will be in trouble, if these numbers come true.
BJP currently has 104 seats in the state and the majority mark is 113. If the NDA happens to come back to power at the centre, there may be lawmakers willing to jump from the Congress-JD(S) coalition helping the BJP to reach the majority mark, thereby toppling the current state government. Here, senior Congress leader Roshan Baig might play a very significant role, according to political analysts.
But will the NDA government sail back into power like the exit polls have predicted? Will the NDA’s win at the centre topple the state government? One will have to wait for May23rd for the answers to these questions.
BLOG WRITTEN BY APOORVA SHANKAR
