Congress will win all future elections, says Chavan

Welcoming the Congress party's thumping victory in the Karnataka assembly polls, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Thursday claimed it would make way for "victory for the party in all the future elections".

"The Congress will emerge victorious in all the future elections. The Karnataka success is only the first step in this direction," Chavan declared, referring to the ensuing Lok Sabha polls and Maharashtra assembly polls in 2014.

The people of Karnataka have voted for the Congress policies and developmental agenda and totally rejected the "corrupt" politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party in that state, he said.

"The BJP could not even score a half century (the party got 40 in the final tally). It is an endorsement of the policies of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Chavan said.

Pulling up the BJP for its recent actions virtually paralysing the functioning of parliament, Chavan said that despite political differences, "all issues can be resolved through negotiations".

He accused the BJP of disrupting parliament with an eye on the Karnataka elections and said people of the state saw through its game-plan and voted decisively in favour of the Congress.

"After winning the people's hearts in Karnataka, we hope to continue the trend of winning all future elections," Chavan said.

The Congress Wednesday recaptured power in Karnataka after seven years, crushing the BJP in the assembly elections.

The Congress had won 120 seats and was all set to bag one more, taking its tally to 121 in the 225-member assembly for which elections were held Sunday and votes counted Wednesday. The BJP and the Janata Dal-Secular won 40 seats each.