PM to hold 4 rallies in K’taka in less than a month
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to unleash a campaign blitzkrieg in Karnataka from next week, addressing four rallies in 23 days, a BJP leader privy to the schedule of his poll drive said.
Karnataka, which is likely to go to polls in the middle of this year, is one of five states where the Congress is in power.
Modi will begin his campaign drive from Mysore, the home district of chief minister Siddaramaiah, on February 19. He would then address a rally in Davengere, the central Karnataka district known for its textile industries, on February 27. The PM is then scheduled to fly to Lingayatdominated Bijapur of MumbaiKarnataka region, comprising of 50 assembly seats, on March 4 and then to Raichur of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which consists of 31 assembly seats, on March 13.
“Modi will be travelling to build momentum for the BJP before the poll dates are announced,” the BJP leader said.
BJP president Amit Shah would also play a key role in expanding the saffron footprint in the southern state in the coming days. From February 20, he is scheduled to spend three days in the coastal Karnataka, which is known for the strong presence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Sangh-affiliated outfits.
During his tour, Shah would address a workers’ rally near the Kukke Subramanya Temple in Dakshina Kannada district on February 19 and a fishermen convention in temple town of Uduppi on February 20. Shah’s itinerary includes a visit to the house of a Bajrang Dal activist who was hacked to death in January.
It would be for the first time that both Modi and Shah will be holding rallies in different parts of Karnataka at the same time.
The BJP is banking on its big guns’ star power to tilt the outcome of the upcoming polls in its favour and oust the Congress from Karnataka. The party has targeted Siddaramaiah on issues ranging from farmer suicides to ‘growing corruption’.
The Congress, however, has launched a high-decibel counter offensive, questioning the Modiled central government over demonetisation, GST and unemployment.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had on Monday ended his fourday Janashirvad Yatra in north Karnataka, a traditional BJP stronghold, by launching an attack on the BJP and RSS.
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