BJP names ‘star’ campaigners
of which will be confirmed soon,” he said.
CONG ANNOUNCES LIST
The Congress on Sunday released its second and final list of five candidates for the Karnataka assembly polls, while replacing six contenders. CM Siddaramaiah will replace Dr Devraj Patil in Badami constituency in North Karnataka, according to the updated list.
The chief minister is in the fray from the Chamundeshwari assembly segment in Mysuru as well. The party has replaced its candidates in Jagalur (reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidate), Tiptur, Malleshwaram, Padmanaba Nagar and Madikeri.
In Madikeri, KP Chandrakala will contest the election in the place of HS Chandra Mouli.
The BJP has been attacking the Congress over Mouli’s candidature, citing he had represented fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi. The saffron party had also alleged that the tainted businessman enjoyed “patronage” of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress has fielded Dr B Inamdar, Vithal Dhondiba Katakdhond, Mallanna Niganna Sali, Syed Yasin and NA Harris from Kittur, Nagthan (reserved for scheduled castes), Sindgi, Raichur and Shanti Nagar respectively.
What is politics without some much needed glamour? As crowds get thinner in the hot summer, parties are doing everything possible to attract voters. The Congress is planning to unleash former cricketers and movie stars to woo the electorate. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Mohammed Azharuddin from the cricketing world and Nagma and Khushboo from tinsel town are expected to campaign for the party. Congress’s social media head ‘Ramya’ Divya Spandana herself is a top Kannada heroine.
Other parties to have banked on crowd-pullers. The BJP has its own local bandwagon of actors, including Tara Venugopal, Jaggesh and Shruti.
The Janata Dal (Secular) too has its own star in yesteryear Sandalwood hero Sashi Kumar.
TGone are the days when leaders would be welcomed with either flower garlands or bouquets, even a shower of rose petals. The latest ‘trend’ in Karnataka politics is to string together imported Washington apples in giant garlands.
Some of these garlands, weighing as much as 750 kilograms are normally reserved for very senior leaders like CM Siddaramaiah. The garlands are intertwined with flowers and are hoisted using cranes; to be sure, they never go around the neck of the leaders. Once the pictures are clicked and even as the convoy of the leader moves a little ahead, waiting supporters scramble to snatch as many apples as possible. he Congress candidate from Hoskote in Bengaluru, MTB Nagaraj who is seeking re-election has declared assets worth ₹1,012 crore between him and his wife. His wealth has more than doubled since the last time he filed an election affidavit in 2013 when he had declared assets of ₹470 crore.