Bengaluru, April 7 Leader of the Opposition, BJP in the Karnataka Assembly, R Ashoka, said the results of the bypolls in Davanagere South and Bagalkote assembly constituencies will determine the future of the ruling Congress in the state.
The bypolls were necessitated following the death of sitting Congress MLAs, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies, respectively.
The ruling Congress has fielded Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson and Karnataka Minister S S Mallikarjun's son, Samarth Shamanur, in Davanagere South, and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote, who are contesting directly against BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.
According to Ashoka, there is a contest between the poor and the rich in the upcoming bypolls, scheduled for April 9.
"The Congress will lose this election, and the future of the state will be decided. Since Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said 'Make the poor win', the BJP has fielded poor candidates," the BJP leader said in a press conference.
In Davanagere, the BJP has given a ticket to an ordinary person, while the Congress has given tickets to powerful and influential people. In Bagalkote, there is a very good opinion about the BJP candidate, he claimed.
According to him, the Congress has given space to dynastic politics in both places. Therefore, the BJP has a strong chance of winning in both constituencies.
The LoP said that if the Congress candidate wins in Davanagere, it is understood that Muslims will not get opportunities in the future, and therefore, Muslims are opposing the Congress party.
He also charged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who talks about uniting backward classes, has not given a ticket to backward class candidates.