New Delhi: The BJP will return to power with “full majority” in Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor B S Yediyurappa, Union minister Pralhad Joshi asserted on Wednesday after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the state polls.

Joshi, the Union minister of parliamentary affairs and MP from Karnataka’s Dharwad seat, said he was confident about the BJP coming back to power for the second consecutive term because of its government’s “historic” work for the development of the state.

“In view of the work that our double engine government has done for the development of the state under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I am fully confident that BJP will return to power with full majority in Karnataka under the leadership of Yediyurappa ji and Bommai ji,” he said.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.

Addressing a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the notification for the elections to the 224-member assembly will be issued on April 13 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be April 20.

Asked for his comment on the announcement of poll schedule, Joshi said the BJP government has done “historic work” for the development of Karnataka.

People of Karnataka are keen on giving mandate to the BJP for the second consecutive term as they know “the history of the Congress”, he claimed.

“Congress makes false promises… They have not fulfilled the promises they made in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and recently in Himachal Pradesh,” he charged.

“If development has to happen, Modi ji-led BJP has to be supported — such kind of excitement is already visible among people (in Karnataka),” he claimed.

PTI

Press Trust of India