Karnataka polls: Market of hatred shut, says Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday (13) thanked the people of Karnataka on party’s expected victory and said that “market of hate has been shut and shops of love have opened”.

He also said that the power of crony capitalism has been defeated by the power of poor people.

Speaking to the media at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said, “Want to thank the people of Karnataka, our party leaders and all party workers who have worked hard.”

He said, “In the Karnataka elections, there was crony capitalism on one side and on the other side there was the power of poor people who defeated the powerful.”

He further said that the Congress stood with the poor and “we fought on their issue”.

“We didn’t fight on hate and we fought on issues of love. We fought with people, and the state has shown that love can win,” he said, adding that this will be repeated in other states too.

“In Karnataka shops of hatred have closed and shops of love have opened. It is a victory of the people of Karnataka. We made five promises and we will fulfill those promises in our first cabinet meeting,” he added.

The Congress is set to form the government in the southern state.

The party headquarters here witnessed a festive mood with workers bursting crackers, dancing on bhangra tunes and also distributing sweets.

The election is the first of five crucial state polls this year that are seen as setting the tone for parliamentary elections due in April and May 2024.

It is also the first big electoral face-off between prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP and Congress since Gandhi was convicted of defamation in March and lost his parliament seat.

Karnataka, which was ruled by the BJP, voted on Wednesday (10) and votes were counted on Saturday. Congress is set to win 136 seats against 64 for the BJP in the 224-member legislature, the Election Commission website showed.

(With inputs from Agencies)