Mysore/Mysuru: Charging senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah of letting loose his tongue in respect of his margin of victory in the forthcoming Assembly polls from Varuna, Chamarajanagar MP and senior BJP leader V. Sreenivasa Prasad wondered whether it is possible for Siddharamaiah to win by a margin of 1 lakh votes as claimed by him.

Addressing a press meet at BJP office in Chamarajapuram on Thursday, Prasad reminded Siddharamaiah who was beaming with confidence of a landslide victory in Chamundeshwari Constituency in the 2018 polls, that he lost the polls by a huge margin of 36,000 votes. Like Siddharamaiah, former Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa too was audacious and he also lost the 2018 polls from T. Narasipur by a big margin of 29,000 votes, he noted.

Asserting that the BJP lost the 2018 polls in Varuna due to the confusions over the party candidate, he maintained that Housing Minister V. Somanna who is contesting from Varuna would win this time as he is making a lot of efforts to seal the seat for the BJP.

Noting that the BJP has fielded new faces in 8 of the 11 Assembly segments of the district, barring Chamaraja, Narasimharaja and Nanjangud, he said that the BJP stands a good chance of winning many seats in the district this time as the party’s rural base has grown bigger. He further said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would surely win as he is humble in nature and not arrogant like many Congress leaders.

Prasad also said that Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign in the State would make little difference as the BJP is all set to win the May 10 polls.

Commenting on JD(S) decision of supporting Congress candidate in Nanjangud, Prasad said that the JD(S) was enacting a drama of sorts. Wanting to know why the JD(S) has fielded its candidate in Varuna when it has supported the Congress in Nanjangud, he said that this was nothing but a political gimmick of the regional party. He also took potshot at KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar’s claims that the Congress would win 150 seats and form the next Government.

Mayor Shivakumar, BJP leaders H.G. Giridhar, Vasanthkumar, S. Jaya Prakash and others were present at the press meet.