The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka is ready to sit in the opposition in case the people of the state do not give it a clear mandate, senior party leader L K Advani said in Bangalore on Saturday.
During an interaction with the media, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said that he is optimistic about his party getting a majority, but they will not consider alliances with other parties if they fall short of the requisite numbers.
He pointed out that the last time the BJP tied up with the Janata Dal-Secular, it was betrayed by Deve Gowda's party. "The Congress and the JD-S have both been given a chance to run the state. Now it is the BJP's turn. In 2004, the people had given us a mandate and we became the single largest party. This time, we need a clear mandate to form the government on our own," he said.
Taking on the United Progressive Alliance on the contentious issue of price rise, Advani said that the Congress had initially tried to shift the blame on to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. "The UPA then blamed the states as they realised that not many states in India are under Congress' rule," he said.
"The Congress has virtually admitted that it has been unable to do anything to tame the spiraling prices. The Congress, in an attempt to wriggle out of the situation, may go in for early polls. The inflation is only going to worsen with each passing day under the UPA's regime," Advai said.
When questioned about the recent disruptions in Parliament by Opposition members, Advani said that the BJP had convened a meeting to discuss this issue. "We have to discuss the issue with our partners in the NDA before coming to any conclusion. A meeting to discuss this issue has been convened on Monday. We will have a clear picture after that," he said.
Reacting to reports claiming that the BJP's state unit had sold tickets to people from the land mafia, Advani said that these were baseless allegations. "I am happy with the way in which the entire process has been carried out. However, if there are such report, then I would look into it," he said.
Defending the non-inclusion of Muslim candidates in the BJP list, Advani said that the party was ready to field candidates, if there were any.
Slamming the Congress' vote bank politics, he added that the Muslims were becoming aware of the fact that the Congress is only using them. More and more Muslims will support the BJP in the future, feels Advani, as the party does not believe in vote bank politics.
Advani said that the contest between B S Yeddyurappa and S Bangarappa from the Shikaripura constituency in Shimoga would be a 'good fight', but he was sure that the BJP would win the seat.