Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday claimed that there was no pressure on him over the April 17 Lok Sabha polls. He even expressed confidence that the Congress will win at least 18 to 20 seats.

In an interview, Siddaramaiah told Express that the poll results will have no bearing on the state government. “When we are confident of doing well in the polls, how can there be any impact on the government?” he asserted.

Asked why he was hesitant to accept the outcome of the election as a comment on his government, Siddaramaiah said nine months was too early to judge any government.

“We still have over four years of our term to implement all promises made during the Assembly polls,” he said.

He also rejected the poll projections that the Congress may get just 14-15 seats, saying, “They said that we will not come to power in the Assembly polls. Didn’t we get 122 seats?”

Denying any differences between the government and the party, Siddaramaiah said he enjoyed good rapport with KPCC president G Parameshwara and termed the differences as a media creation.

On the holding of party primaries, he said it is a good experiment and one has to see how successful it is.

He, however, said the party considered factors such as caste, region, religion, social justice and winnability to select candidates in the 26