The Kisan Samman, is an income-support scheme: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is a BJP Rajya Sabha member, reflects that the main apprehension in this Lok Sabha poll is that who will be the next Prime Minister. Chandrasekhar said in an interaction that his party will get a major number of seats from Karnataka.

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

I don't get into these statistics. I can say there is pro-incumbency and it is honestly noticeable across the constituencies just going by the situation. 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 issue. The major issue in these elections are clearly who is going to be the next Prime Minister. Moreover, I believe the majority of people have already decided answer to this.

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

Vajpayee government did an excellent job. It built the economy back with a lot of attentiveness. He extended the tax base, constructed highways and restructured ports. Nonetheless, 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, that is not the case. It's differentiating between apples and the oranges. The Kisan Samman, is an income-support scheme. Modi's approach is to make farmers economically independent and sustainable is. Therefore, 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.