BJP will bounce back in Karnataka, says Basavaraj Bommai

Outgoing Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the BJP will bounce back in the state and asserted that the party has not lost its self-confidence.

Outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the BJP will bounce back in the state and asserted that the party has not lost its self-confidence.

Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. (Twitter/ANI)

He said a meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs and the defeated candidates will be held in the next two or three days. During the meeting, the Leader of the Opposition in the new Assembly would be selected, Bommai added.

The outgoing CM said the Congress "which has come to power with its guarantees" has to fulfil them while ensuring the financial health of the state is not disturbed.

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"We (BJP) have lost the election, not the self-confidence. We will bounce back in the state again," Bommai was quoted as saying in a release issued by his office.

Congratulating Chief Minister-designate Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister-designate D K Shivakumar, he said the people's mandate must be respected in democracy.

"It is the people who decide various roles in politics. They have given us the mandate to work as the opposition party," he said.

According to Bommai, people have shown confidence in Congress and "more confidence in the guarantees promised by them."

"The new government has to fulfil them and by doing so it must ensure that the financial health of the state is not disturbed. We will wait and see how the new government will manage it," he pointed out.

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The Congress has promised to implement 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), ₹2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kilograms of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), ₹3,000 every month for graduate youth and ₹1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day of coming to power in the state.

Bommai said the opposition has a major role in democracy as it has to work with utmost responsibility. "The opposition must work without politicising any issue when it comes to land or water and it will have to function as an 'alarm bell' whenever the government does injustice to the people," he said.

Replying to a question, Bommai said the introspection on the BJP's defeat in the just-concluded Assembly elections was in progress at various levels.

In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress won 135 seats. The BJP and JD(S) bagged 66 and 19, respectively.