Bengaluru, 12 October

State BJP President BY Vijayendra on Monday claimed that 25 Congress MLAs, including Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s Cabinet ministers, would join the saffron party if elections were held now.

Responding to a question on whether the BJP was trying to poach Ministers from the Congress, Vijayendra said, "We have no such necessity, but I would say one thing clearly as the party's State President: even if elections are announced tomorrow, 25 legislators, including ministers in DK Shivakumar's Cabinet, would join the BJP. Such an atmosphere has already been created”.

Vijayendra criticised the INDIA bloc’s protests in New Delhi, saying it was “inappropriate” for them to try and meet Chief Justice of India Surya Kant over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls when the matter was already before the Supreme Court. 

Vijayendra alleged that the Congress was conspiring to create anarchy in the country and asserted that people would not accept such attempts. Referring to developments in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he claimed Congress leaders had also spoken about the possibility of similar youth-led unrest in India.