PM Modi has lost, says Jairam Ramesh as Congress inches towards majority in Karnataka polls

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ‘lost’ as the grand old party inched closer towards registering a monumental victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections.

In a tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the BJP has lost and by extension that means that Prime Minister has lost as the saffron party had made its poll campaign a ‘referendum on the PM” which has been “decisively rejected.”

The senior Congress leader said that the party fought the election on by focussing on local issues such as livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness and corruption—while the BJP based their campaign by attempting to polarise the masses.

Ramesh claimed that PM Modi “injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation”, adding that Karnataka voted for an engine based in Bengaluru that “will combine economic growth with social harmony.”

He said that despite PM Modi leading a vociferous campaign in the state, the BJP failed to retain power and thus the saffron party’s defeat also the means the defeat of the Prime Minister.

According to latest trends, the Congress is tipped to emerge victorious in the Karnataka polls with an absolute majority with veteran leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ruling out plans of a coalition with former ally HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal (Secular).

The Congress is all but on the verge of forming a majority government in the state as Chief Minister Basavaraj implicitly conceded defeat saying that BJP wasn’t able to cross the “magic mark” despite the best efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Karnataka win will serve as a morale booster for the entire Opposition and help the Congress build momentum in their bid to dethrone the PM Modi-led BJP at the Centre in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.