Modi's approach is to make farmers financially independent and sustainable

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a BJP Rajya Sabha member, thinks that the prime concern in this Lok Sabha election is who will be the Prime Minister. His party will get a ultimate number of seats from Karnataka said Chandrasekhar in an interaction.

How is the BJP positioned in Karnataka with all parties claiming victory in 20 seats?

I don't get into these figures. But going by the situation, I can say there is pro-incumbency and it is fairly noticeable across the constituencies. I'm pretty sure we will win a pretty decent share of seats in Karnataka.

What are the issues before the voters?

I think caste and other normal dynamics are not the main concern. The major issue in these polls are clearly who is going to be the next Prime Minister. And I think the majority of people have a definitive answer to this.

But there is an uncanny similarity between the situation in 2004 and now. Will history repeat itself?

A really good job was done the Vajpayee government. It constructed the economy back with a lot of diligence. He extended the tax base, constructed highways and restructured ports. Nevertheless, for not taking on the Congress' political campaign he paid the price, politically. The Congress laced its campaign around Kandahar, which was full of lies, and the BJP wavered in opposing it effectively. Now no lie of the Congress is going to go unseen as the situation is quite different.

You think Rahul's NYAY, an income guarantee scheme, is an effective counter to Modi's Kisan Samman scheme? Will it alter the election dynamics in any manner?

No, I don't think so. It's distinguishing between apples and the oranges. The Kisan Samman, is an income-support scheme. To make farmers economically independent and sustainable is Modi's approach. Consequently, he addressed issues like crop insurance, pricing and income support. But the Congress' model is farm loan waiver which is a convenient formula for corruption. Farmers take loans from moneylenders and farm loan waivers don't cover moneylenders.