Hubballi: Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar exuded confidence in his victory during an informal interaction with supporters and party workers at his residence on Thursday. Shettar met with his supporters to discuss reports on the polling held the day before.
Shettar said he was quite confident of his victory and expressed that his victory margin in this election would not be less than what he secured in the previous election.
Speaking to reporters at his residence, Shettar said that people voted for him and development, and he was able to get traditional BJP votes in large numbers. The voters had given an internal blow to the BJP candidate, he said, and on May 13, the day results of the voting announced, it would be clear.
Shettar also mentioned that 80% of polling was done in areas where the Congress party is strong. In previous elections, Congress party supporters did not come out to vote in large numbers as they knew he would win. But this time, Shettar himself contested from the Congress party after quitting BJP, which created more enthusiasm among traditional Congress voters, and they turned out in large numbers to support him by exercising their franchise.
Shettar clarified that he did not say anything against the Brahmin community, but against a particular man named BL Santosh, who hatched the conspiracy to take control of the BJP and sidelined many Lingayats in the party. Shettar claimed that even Brahmins voted for him.
When asked about the support he received from BJP supporters, Shettar said that because of love and affection towards him, BJP supporters voted for him in large numbers. The magnitude of the support will be visible when the counting of votes begins, he said.
Shettar also charged that the BJP had distributed Rs 500 for each voter in many areas and tried to win by illegal means and but their efforts did not yield any result. But BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginkai, refuted the charges..
Overall, Shettar was optimistic about his chances of winning and sounded confident that his victory margin would not be less than the previous one. As the election results are due to be announced on May 13, all eyes will be on the counting day to see if Shettar’s predictions come true.
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