Kalaburagi (Karnataka), March 20 Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra said on Friday that "the power struggle and internal infighting within the ruling Congress in the state have reached a climax, and a change in the chief minister is inevitable".
He also expressed confidence that the BJP will win both the Bagalkot and Davangere South Assembly constituencies in the April 9 by-elections, as he claimed that the Congress government in the state is facing "strong anti-incumbency and public frustration".
"The power struggle and internal infighting within the Congress have reached a critical stage. If the by-elections had not been announced, things would have reached the final stage, probably immediately after the ongoing Assembly session (scheduled to conclude on March 27). Because of the by-elections, it will probably be postponed for fifteen days," Vijayendra said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Given the crisis in the Congress government, a change in the Chief Ministership is inevitable."
"Recently, when I spoke with some ruling party legislators in the Assembly, they expressed confidence that there would certainly be some changes and the CM would resign. But they will have to find the answer to who will become the next CM," he added.
"The poor people are upset, farmers are in crisis, and the youth are also unhappy and are against this government. So, I strongly feel that because of the severe anti-incumbency and anti-people policies of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, I am one hundred per cent confident that the people of both constituencies will bless the BJP with a victory," he added.
The BJP has fielded Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot and Srinivas T Dasakariyappa from Davangere South, following the approval of its Central Election Committee. These bypolls are necessitated following the deaths of sitting Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
In Bagalkot, Meti (Congress) defeated the BJP's Charantimath by 5,878 votes, and in Davangere South, Shivashankarappa (Congress) defeated the BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes.
