'With opponents like Cong, BJP has nothing to worry about'

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Karnataka has a lot at stake in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. The election might prove to be the report card of the saffron party's first government in a southern state.

Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa caught up with state Law Minister Suresh Kumar, who is one of the star campaigners of the party.

What is the issue that the BJP is focusing on during its campaign in Karnataka?

We are not focusing on just one issue; we have a three-pronged campaign. We have been terming the United Progressive Alliance as an Unproductive Alliance, we are speaking about the achievements of the BJP in Karnataka and the performance of the National Democratic Alliance when it was in power at the Centre. We are telling people that we are committed towards governance, development and protection.

How many Lok Sabha seats do you expect to win in the state?

Last time, we had won 18 seats. I can confidently say that this time we will win one or two more seats.

Is (BJP strongman) Ananth Kumar a worried man? He is contesting against Captain G R Gopinath and Congress' Krishna Byre Gowda from the Bangalore South constituency.

Ananth Kumar will go back to the Lok Sabha and there is no doubt about that. Captain Gopinath has good intentions and he might motivate voters to come to the booth and cast their votes. But the problem for Gopinath is that the voter may not vote for him. He is an independent candidate and the voter will think several times before wasting his vote. The fight is just between Byre Gowda and Ananth Kumar and the latter will emerge victorious.

There is talk about the BJP being unhappy with Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. Is there is a possibility of him being shunted out from the CM's post after the general elections?

It is just a rumour. The BJP is not unhappy with him and it has no reason to shunt him out. We are happy with him and the BJP will finish its term under his leadership.

Your prime ministerial candidate L K Advani is an old man. During your campaign, how did the youngsters react to his candidature? Isn't there a complete disconnect?

Wherever we have campaigned, we have found that the people compare Advani with (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh. None of them spoke about his age or compared him with either Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi.

The kind of connect that Karnataka has with Advani is incredible. Our leader has come down here so many times and entire Karnataka is happy about the attention he has been giving to this state. Has Manmohan Singh done that?

It has not been a happy year for the BJP. There have been attacks on women and churches. Aren't the voters upset and don't they question you about the manner in which you have tackled these issues?

To tell you the truth, they have sympathised with us. They are happy that the government has intervened at the right time and acted on the matter. We have interacted with a cross section of the youth and none of them have problems with the BJP.

The Dakshin Kannada constituency, which was Mangalore before the delimitation process, looks shaky for the BJP. What are your thoughts about that?

Janardhan Poojary of the Congress is running a campaign based on sympathy. He is trying to woo the voters by telling them that he has been out of power for so long and hence he should be given a chance.

There is no problem for the BJP. We may have lost a couple of areas due to the delimitation, but this has been a BJP stronghold since 1991. Mangalore, in particular, has hard-core cadres of the BJP who have been working very hard throughout and they will ensure that we send our candidate to the Parliament yet again.

What about Bellary, which is another favourite bastion of the BJP?

Bellary is ours; our candidate Shanthi will win. With opponents like the Congress, the BJP has nothing to worry about.

There has not been much appreciation for the way in which the BJP has run the state government. Will this election be a report card for your performance?

We are not approaching it as a state issue. The Lok Sabha elections are fought on  national issues. These polls will not be a report card for the BJP government and if someone claims that this is the case, then we have no problem. Our government has performed exceptionally well.