Nalin Kumar Kateel takes charge as Karnataka BJP chief

BENGALURU: MP from Dakshina Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel took charge as the President of Karnataka’s BJP unit for three years term on Thursday. He was serving as an interim president for the past six months after B S Yediyurappa stepped down as the party chief to become the Chief Minister.
Kateel said that one of the challenges is to ensure the BJP wins 150 seats in the 2023 assembly elections. “CM Yediyurappa’s goal of winning 150 seats in the assembly elections will be realised. The party will come to power again,” he told the media after taking charge.

The state unit, he said will build the organisational structure of the party in Karnataka based on Gujarat model. “We will set up party office in every mandal and strengthen the party based on ideology and trust,” he said.

Commenting on his work in the six months as an interim president, Kateel said there were many challenges and he has delivered satisfactorily. “The BJP government was just formed (in Karnataka) and Yediyurappa had taken charge as the CM. He (the CM) too faced several challenges like drought and flood which he tackled successfully. There were many challenges before us including municipal elections, Bengaluru Mayoral elections, assembly bypolls and we performed well,” he said.

Kateel gave credits to the chief minister for the BJP’s performance in the recent elections and said that it proved the confidence that people of the state posed on Yediyurappa.

“Initially when I took charge, there were concerns about my limited networking as I am the coastal region. But under the guidance of seniors like Yediyurappa, I toured around all the districts and analysed the socio-political issues,” the newly elected president said.