Udupi (Karnataka) [India], April 19 : As Karnataka gears up to vote in the next two phases of Lok Sabha elections, the Cabinet Minister of Energy in the state Kelachandra Joseph George hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of winning more than 400 seats by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), saying that just like several promises made by PM Modi, even this target will not materialize.
"PM Modi's promises are never fulfilled, not only for election prediction. He has promised many things. So far nothing has happened," George said speaking to ANI on the '400 paar' target given by the Prime Minister for the Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking on Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's push for 'Nyay' (justice) in the elections, George said, "We have announced welfare schemes for people of India. People are not in a good situation now because of price rise and rising unemployment. They will definitely vote for Congress and the INDIA bloc."
Responding to a question asked by the reporter on the murder of a Congress corporator's daughter, a student at Karnataka's Hubbali, the Karnataka Minister said, "Police is there. They will do their investigation and find out the culprits and the guilty. We will see and punish him according to the law."
On the murder of four family members in Karnataka's Gadag, George said that owing to the elections the police are not completely government-controlled as of now but they are confident about their ability.
"Election is going on and everything is controlled by the Election Commission. There are many (new) postings that they posted. It is not completely government-controlled. But we are confident in our police. They will take action as per the law," the Karnataka Minister said.
On the Congress target for Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections, Gadag said that they aim at winning all the seats in the state.
"We are aiming at all the 28 constituencies. Earlier we used to win all the 28, or 27 out of 28. That is why we are confident of winning all the 28," the senior Congress leader said.
Exuding confidence that people will vote for the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls, Gadag said, "People have realized what type of governance they are giving. I cannot predict what the voters are going to give. We are confident that voters will change their minds and support the INDIA bloc."
Karnataka's 28 seats will be contested in the second and third phases on April 26 and May 7.
In the 2019 elections, the Congress and JD-S alliance suffered a significant defeat, with the BJP securing a record 25 seats.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4.