Bengaluru, March 31, 2018: The BJP is "well-placed" ahead of state elections in Karnataka thanks to the resurgence of a right-wing movement, the head of the saffron party's information technology cell said Saturday.
Amit Malviya, a prominent spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, said the factors driving this revival were Karnataka's tech-savvy denizens and the "ideological bulwark" provided by people espousing "right-wing dharmic ideology."
"The BJP has a very deep, entrenched cadre base in the state, and Karnataka is a very technologically connected state. It's literate, and the internet penetration is extremely high," Malviya told the audience at India Today's Karnataka Panchayat 2018.
But his co-panelist Divya Spandana, a Bengaluru native who manages social media and digital communications for the All India Congress Committee, said her party was "already winning" the conversation on social networks - "thanks toAmit Shah."
"We're definitely winning the election," she added.
Spandana was presumably referring to two recent incidents that have left the BJP red-faced.
First, the BJP president said by mistake that his party colleague BS Yeddyurappa (and chief ministerial candidate) was corrupt, when he really meant to target Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Then, at a rally, Shah's translator quoted him as saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi would destroy India.
When Amit Malviya was asked about the Congress party's unusual confidence and assertiveness ahead of the Karnataka election, here's what he said:
"They're always confident before the elections, but when the polling happens, they end up with moral victory. It's going to be no different in Karnataka here."