Congress is aiming to win 15-20 seats in Karnataka: Kharge on LS polls

Asserting that the people want change in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday, that the party is aiming to register victory on 15-20 seats out of 28 in the state of Karnataka.

He said that the people want a government that works to create jobs, bring down inflation and work for the poor.

Speaking to ANI, Kharge said, "People want change, people want a government of the poor, people want employment, people want inflation to come down. Whatever the public wants is happening."

"We will get the majority of seats. We have set a target of (winning) 15-20 seats (out of 28 seats in Karnataka) and we will definitely win," he added.

Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress President said that the BJP works only for winning elections and nothing for the country.

"It doesn't matter, who remains in power for how long. Nehru ji stayed in power and also worked for the country, whose benefits we are enjoying today...in the field of the Public Sector Units (PSUs), defence. He did not publicise this much that you have to see his photo on TV as soon as you get up," Kharge said.

"Nehru ji always told the people to keep democracy alive, unless we keep democracy alive, we will not have proper governance in this country. They (BJP) are doing whatever they have to do to win the elections, they are not doing anything for the country," he added.
 

On being asked about the Hubballi murder case, the Rajya Sabha MP condemned the incident and said that the man behind the killing should be punished.

"Many people raise this issue during elections. I condemn this incident and the man who is behind it should get punishment according to the rule of law...we want the law to take action, no matter who it is, we will not defend anyone..."

This comes after the BJP demanded a CBI probe into the murder of the daughter of a Congress councillor in Karnataka, who was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College last week. BJP has alleged that police are trying to "divert" the case.

Niranjan Hiremath, the father of the murdered girl in Hubballi has demanded a CBI investigation into the incident. He also demanded that the police commissioner in charge of the case should be transferred for alleged "negligence".

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha elections for 28 seats in Karnataka are scheduled to take place over two phases, with polling slated for April 26 and May 7. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.

In 2019, BJP registered a strong performance winning 25 out of the 28 seats, while the Congress party was only able to win one seat. This election comes after Congress party stormed into power with a massive victory in the assembly polls last year.