05-26-2008, 11:02 PM
Karnataka polls sign of things to come: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): Upbeat after its spectacular performance in Karnataka assembly polls, the BJP on Sunday termed the results as a "turning point" that indicates the shape of things to come in run up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Describing 2008 as a "year of change" in national politics, BJP's Prime Ministerial face L K Advani said his party's first win in a southern state showed the "geographical expansion" of the saffron party and "simultaneous shrinkage" of Congress.
The "triumph in Karnataka will prove to be a turning point", Advani said in a statement here as BJP emerged the leading party in the state assembly polls set to form the government there.
"This geographical expansion of the BJP, and the simultaneous shrinkage of the Congress party almost all over the country, shows the shape of things to come in the run-up to the next Parliamentary elections," he said.
He dubbed the poll victory as a verdict against the Congress party's "politics of opportunism" and the JD(S)'s "politics of betrayal".
Advani said the Congress party would be indulging in "self-delusion" if it thought that the people of Karnataka were influenced by the local factors.
"The UPA government's utter failure to control the prices of essential commodities, its soft and compromising policy on terrorism, and its insensitivity towards the plight of kisans have angered the common people all over the country," he said.
BJP President Rajnath Singh said his party had always been seen as a "North Indian party" but "now, we can say that the BJP is an all-India party... The BJP is now a front-runner in the Lok Sabha elections."