All eyes are on May 10, when voters of Karnataka will decide which party will rule the State for the next five years. The outcome in Karnataka will also have a possible impact on the 2024 parliamentary polls.
PM Modi will try his hat trick in the next year’s Lok Sabha polls. The BJP has planned for about 20 rallies across Karnataka between April 28 to May 8, when the campaigning will end.
Karnataka is the only Southern State where the saffron party has a strong presence and is in power.
Obviously, the BJP will rely on PM Modi’s unique ability to connect with the voters who have more than surprised political experts and psephologists.
Of course, BJP’s star campaigners will be Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP National President J P Nadda and also other Central Ministers and even celebrities.
The BJP State leadership has asked for the maximum number of campaigns from Chief Ministers and Union Ministers.
Meanwhile, the BJP is planning a big rally in electorally crucial Udupi on May 4. PM Modi is expected to participate in a conference of BJP workers. The party is planning a huge function in the city. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will join PM Modi in Udupi, and both leaders are likely to campaign in Belagavi and Hubballi districts.
Sources said the Karnataka BJP had divided the State into six regions to ease campaigning.
PM Modi is likely to campaign in Haveri, Bagalkot, Koppal and other districts, including Belagavi and Hubballi.
Home Minister Amit Shah is one of BJP’s key poll strategists and campaigners. He is set to camp for more than two weeks in Karnataka to bolster the party’s campaign.
BJP president J P Nadda may hold over 25 rallies for the polls. The 224 seats in Karnataka will go to polls in a single phase on May 10. The results will be declared on May 13.
The electioneering has picked up taking into consideration many socio-political factors. The formidable Lingayats form about 17 per cent of the State’s 6.6 crore population and were expected to sway public mood in at least 100 seats, especially in North Karnataka, Mumbai, Karnataka and Hyderabad, Karnataka region.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has exuded confidence about a certain win.
Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is an important player in the massive support base for him and the saffron party among the electorally important Lingayat community. The Lotus party has also got a boost in its overall campaign strategy as popular actor Kichcha Sudeep has started campaigning for the BJP.
Kichcha Sudeep belongs to the Nayaka community, which is predominant in the Kalyana-Karnataka region.
Independent MP of Mandya, Sumalatha Ambareesh, will support the BJP. Her late husband Ambareesh was a legendary actor and a dominant figure in the Vokkaliga community, which is influential in the old Mysuru region comprising as many as 61 seats. Predictably, these developments vis-a-vis popular film stars backing the saffron outfit has unnerved the JD(S) of the Deve Gowda family and also the Congress.
The JD(S) draws its support from Vokkaliga and hence the nervousness.
Congress has its own inherent problems – internal bickering.
The Karnataka Congress is already afflicted with a triangular fight between State Unit President D K Shivakumar, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, legislative party President and former CM Siddaramaiah.
The battle in Karnataka, according to diverse schools of thought, will also be seen as popularity test of the Modi Government’s crusade against corruption and its policies based on its ‘ideology’ of building a India that is inclined towards the ‘Nationalist and Hindutva philosophies’ of the RSS.
Moreover, it will be the first of the many electoral battles this year post the hyped controversy around the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against the OBC community.
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