Hindutva is my commitment, development, priority: Captain Brijesh Chowta on his poll plank

DAKSHINA KANNADA: Captain Brijesh Chowta, BJP candidate from Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency, on Friday said that while Hindutva is his commitment, development is his priority, adding that he wants to develop the constituency on the lines of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision.

"My focus is to ensure that this district remains as the Hindutva fortress that was built by our organisation using karyakartas. Hindutva is my commitment and development is my priority... I would like to develop Dakshin Kannada along the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2047 viksit Bharat vision," Chowta told ANI.

BJP fielded Chowta in the Dakshina Kannada constituency after dropping BJP president and two-time MP Nalin Kumar Kateel who won there by a margin of 2,74,621 votes in the 2019 general election.

The BJP has been winning the Constituency for the last eight elections consecutively. On his candidature, Chowta, who joined the BJP in 2013 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), said that it is a very proud moment and also a very big responsibility on his shoulders.

"This can happen only in a party like BJP led by PM Modi. It feels great to get the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha elections from a very prestigious constituency like Dakshina Kannada for a youngster coming from a very ordinary family," he said.

"I feel there is not much difference in a soldier's mindset and a BJP worker's mindset. A soldier always thinks about the nation similarly, a BJP worker believes in 'Nation first, Party next and self last," he added.

The BJP leader said that Dakshina Kannada has all the potential to become an economic powerhouse of Karnataka.

"I would develop a comprehensive plan for the development of the constituency and discuss it with various stakeholders. I will also ensure that the port city of Mangalore becomes a big growth engine for the state," he said.

He accused the Congress of doing politics just to grab power.

"For Congress, politics means acquiring power for the sake of it. For us, politics means serving the interest of the nation exemplified by PM Modi saying that he does not do Rajniti but Rastraniti. We want the power to serve the interest of the nation," he said.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Karnataka will go to the polling booths in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies including five seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent, while the Congress won 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, and JD(S) and Independent won one seat each in Karnataka.

The general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases starting April 19, with counting to be held on June 4.