Karnataka verdict: 'BJP's southward march has begun'

With the Bharatiya Janata Party set for an impressive win in the Karnataka assembly poll, its leaders described the victory as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda and claimed that people have rejected divisive, toxic and negative agenda of the Congress.

Here are some of the leaders’ reactions.

“People of Karnataka want good governance, which is why they have chosen BJP. This is a big victory for the party. Congress is losing state after state and we are winning state after state.”

-- Prakash Javadekar, Union minister and BJP Karnataka in-charge

“This is a historic win for the BJP. I want to thank all the people of Karnataka for voting for us.”

-- Raman Singh, Chhattisgarh chief minister

“This is an emergence of true grassroot democracy. This marks the end of dynasty and feudalistic tendencies.”

-- Dr Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO

“Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas gets endorsed again.”

-- Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence minister

“With this #KarnatakaVerdict it’s time for Congress to change its name from Indian National Congress to PMP Congress -- Punjab, Mizoram, Puducherry.”

-- Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh CM

“I would like to thank the people of Karnataka for this mandate. Also, credit goes to the hard work of PM Modi and Amit Shah ji, as well as state leadership, party workers and RSS cadre. BJP’s southward march has begun.”

-- Ram Madhav, BJP general secretary 

“Hearty congratulations to @BJP4India for their stellar performance in Karnataka.”

-- Mehbooba Mufti, Jammu-Kashmir chief minister