INDI engine has failed in Phase 1, will not take off: Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai

By Suchitra Mukherjee
Mangaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 23 : Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai said on Tuesday that all hopes of the Congress got dashed after the first phase of the elections, and the INDI engine has failed.
"After phase 1 was over, whatever little hope Congress had got dashed on April 19. Even in the strong seats of Congress in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India, exit polls are projecting that the NDA is going to win more than 25 extra seats than it did in 2019. So it is very clear that the INDI engine has failed in phase 1 and after that, the INDI alliance will not even take off," Annamalai said while speaking to ANI.
Speaking about the electoral prospects of his party in Karnataka, the only state that was held by the BJP until it recently lost it to the Congress in the assembly polls, Annamalai said that it will be a "clean sweep" for the BJP.
"In Karnataka, we are seeing a very clear positive trend that this time it will be a clean sweep for NDA. We will get 28 out of 28 seats. We are in Dakshin Kannada now, and even here, our candidate, Captain Brijesh Chowta, will win by a record margin. The reason is very simple, the people of Karnataka love PM Modi. They have done the same in 2014 and 2019, and 2024 is going to be no different," Annamalai said.
On the BJP's performance in south India, where the party has put significant weight on its campaigning, Annamalai said, "This will be the best-ever performance of the NDA in the southern part of our country. June 4 will be the last date on which people will talk about North-South...On June 4, PM Modi is going to win across all states and in all corners of the country."
Speaking about the murder incident in Karnataka's Hubli in which the daughter of the Congress Councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College, Annamalai said, "What is happening now in Karnataka is appeasement politics. Whenever there is appeasement politics, law and order take a back seat. This includes the unfortunate murder of Neha Hiremath, which happened in broad daylight and should not happen to any woman."
"Any woman in our country has the freedom to choose her life, how she wants to live. Somebody is trying to question that," he added.
Exuding confidence in the BJP's performance in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections, Annamalai said, "We are very confident that on April 26 and May 7, the people of Karnataka will give a fitting punishment to the Congress."
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.