Bengaluru: The Congress government’s performance in Karnataka is significantly influencing the Telangana Assembly elections, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday and expressed confidence that his party would win the polls there.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s waning popularity, as seen in the Karnataka elections, foreshadows the outcome in Telangana and other states going to polls.

“The Congress government’s performance in Karnataka is significantly influencing the Telangana Assembly elections. The effectiveness of our government’s guarantee schemes has sparked extensive debate, causing concern among BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who fear defeat due to Karnataka’s success,” Siddaramaiah said in a post on X.

Noting that the assembly election in Telangana is not a simple battle between Congress and BJP, he said it’s a showdown between the grand old party’s integrity and the saffron party’s falsehoods.

“The electorate is aware of the Modi government’s failure to fulfil even a fraction of its promises made over nine years, diminishing the impact of PM Modi’s campaign in Telangana,” he added.

The Congress has used its entire might from Karnataka seeking to emulate its success in Telangana, with the party having deployed 58 senior leaders from the state, including 10 Ministers, for election management in the neighbouring state, which will vote on November 30.

While 10 Ministers from the state were appointed as AICC Cluster In-charges, 48 party leaders from Karnataka — mostly MLAs and MLCs — were appointed as AICC Assembly Constituency Observers for various districts. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, were leading from the front in the state’s election push in Telangana.

In the polls held for 224-member Assembly in Karnataka in May this year, the Congress posted an emphatic victory by ousting the BJP from power, bagging 135 seats.

Averring that the Karnataka government’s dedication to fulfilling its promises has significantly bolstered the Telangana electorate’s confidence in the party’s commitments, Siddaramaiah said Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjuna Kharge, the AICC President, have been successfully engaging voters by highlighting the ‘Karnataka model’ of governance in their public addresses.

“Our party’s diligent promotion of the achievements of both our previous (2013-18) and current governments in Karnataka has generated a wave of support. The Congress is perceived as a beacon of hope in Telangana, contrasting starkly with the unfulfilled promises of the state’s BRS party and the BJP-led central government,” he said.

The CM further claimed that sidelining of regional BJP leaders by Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has left a vacuum of trust at the local level.

“Telangana’s voters have come to recognise the Congress’ role in the state’s formation and are disillusioned with the BRS’ empty rhetoric and rampant corruption. I am very confident that this realisation sets the stage for Congress’ victory in the upcoming elections,” he added.

The Telangana assembly polls will be held on November 30. Votes will be counted and results declared on December 3.