BJP front-runner for LS polls after K'taka: Jaitley

Set to form the next government in Karnataka, the BJP on Sunday said the party's good showing in the southern state has made it a front-runner in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

"The single-most significant impact is that the BJP has now become the front-runner for the Lok Sabha polls and the victory has given a pan-India presence to the party," BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley, seen as the architect behind the party's victory in Karnataka, described the poll outcome as a positive vote for the BJP and negative vote for the "opportunist politics" of the Congress and the JD(S).

He also termed the election a referendum on the UPA government's performance. "Price rise, farmers' issues and inability of the government to fight terror and played a major role in the election as also did local issues like urban chaos and stability."

Attacking the JD(S), which was its alliance partner in the state before the two parties parted ways after much bad blood, Jaitley said politics devoid of any morality cannot last for long.

"After backstabbing the BJP, they thought they could win on the basis of castes, which proved to be wrong," he said.
Commenting on the Congress, Jaitley said "it had no issues, no leadership."

"Even the campaign by Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was lacklustre. The prime minister addressed meetings in an auditorium," he remarked.

Meanwhile, there were scenes of jubilation at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, with the party workers bursting crackers and distributing sweets.