Udupi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) District President Mattar Rathnakar Hegde attributed the stellar victory of the party in the district to the efforts of the party cadre over the last two years.
Addressing a press conference at the district BJP office here on Wednesday, May 16, Mattar Rathnakar Hegde said, “BJP has scripted history by winning all five assembly seats in the district. It was possible due to the relentless efforts of the workers under the guidance of BJP National President Amit Shah. We were confident that we will sweep all the five seats in the district.”
In the election results declared on May 15, political heavyweights of the Congress including powerful Pramod Madhwaraj were defeated by a huge margin. According to Hegde, the reason for the victory was the strategy executed by Amit Shah in organising fisherman convention, interaction with Shakti Kendra workers and effective use of social media. “Amit Shah’s strategy worked in our favour”, he said.
Hegde also appreciated the support of other leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Om Prakash Mathur and Mahendra Singh. “Narendra Modi’s visit effectively turned the tides in Udupi”, he added.
“We approached the people with the agenda of development. They have accepted our proposal of development. Now we must successfully deliver the promises made”, he added.
BJP regrouped after the dismal performance in the 2013 Assembly polls in the district and has been consistently winning most of the seats in elections for local administration including Zilla Panchayat, Gram Panchayat and APMC. The party also won the Lok Sabha election for the Udupi Constituency in 2014.
The party is not taking a break after the Assembly victory. “Now BJP’s target is to win two seats in the legislative council graduate constituency, and majority in the Udupi City Municipal Council elections. We hope to win at least 30 seats in the City municipal Council out of the 35 seats available”, he said. Plans are also afoot to win the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2019, he said.
Yashpal Suvarna, Suresh Nayak Kulaidy, Praveen Shetty Kappettu and others were present during the press conference.
