Karnataka BJP leaders trying hard to get noticed by Narendra Modi.
Rajya Sabha member Venkaiah Naidu reviews arrangements at the Palace Grounds, ahead of party prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally on Saturday. BJP State president Pralhad Joshi, leader Arvinda Limbavali and others are seen -DC
Bengaluru: The Narendra Modi rally in the city on Sunday has already caused much heart-burn among those in the state BJP who are desperate to be noticed by the man who could be prime minister, and on whose munificence their political futures may depend, after having lost their sinecures in Karnataka to the Congress. Now, on the eve of the mammoth rally, they have got one more grouse to fight over: their faces are not on the posters put up by former minister R. Ashok, apparently the man who has bankrolled the rally, and his men.
If earlier it was a tussle over which former ministers had had highly lucrative ministries in the BJP government and therefore bore responsibility for funding Modi’s Sunday rally at Palace Grounds, on Saturday, many BJP leaders were fuming that their pictures did not appear alongside Modi’s in any of the hundreds of cut-outs and banners that now line the many paths to Palace Grounds and have converted the whole area into a giant eyesore.
On most posters on Bellary Road and elsewhere in the city, only Ashok features prominently, alongside Modi. So does, surprisingly, pictures of his former ministerial colleague V. Somanna, a recent convert to the BJP. On only a couple of posters does any other party leader, even national leaders, figure. BJP president Rajnath Singh, Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu, simply do not figure anywhere. Party patriarch and Modi’s one-time mentor L.K. Advani, who along with former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, used to be the face of the BJP, features in only a few posters.
State leaders – neither former CMs D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar nor party president Pralhad Joshi – do not figure at all. The BJP’s man from Karnataka, MP H.N. Ananth Kumar, is a tiny speck on a few posters.
Angry party leaders said the banners and cut-outs had been installed by BJP city corporators and second-rung leaders, mostly Ashok and Somanna’s men – and they had “obviously” put up the pictures of their mentors while leaving out other party leaders.
At least one angry BJP leader took action. Former minister Aravinda Limbavali’s supporters put up large cut-outs of their leader at the Palace Gate, along with Modi’s picture.
“Party leaders are disappointed by the way preparations and posters have been handled. Even former CMs Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar are disappointed. So, I have decided to put up their photos in the banners erected on my behalf,” said the BJP’s Bangalore Central MP P.C. Mohan.
State party chief Joshi too expressed disappointment. “The party is not involved in putting up banners and cut-outs. Personally, I am disappointed by the fact that banners have been erected on either side of the roads. In fact, I have discussed the issue with party central leader Venkaiah Naidu. But controversy over cut-outs is being hyped by a section of leaders.”
NEXT: Manusinghvi attacks BJP, Modi
Manusinghvi attacks BJP, Modi
A day before the BJP rally in the city, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress spokesperson, Dr Abhishek Manusinghvi and other leaders used a pre-election consultative meeting of lawyers to play down the hype surrounding it and its Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, the star of the show.
Hitting out at Modi’s development agenda, Dr Manusinghvi said that while he was likely to “give some gyan on development,” in reality Delhi and Haryana were more developed than Gujarat. Exuding confidence that the UPA would be reelected in 2014, he said the party had high expectations from Karnataka.
He took strong exception to the language used by Modi in his speeches. “People will judge. Despite high provocation and inivitation, Congress president, Sonia Gandhi showed dignity and was civil in her address,” he told Deccan Chronicle later.
When his attention was drawn to spectators at the Wankhede Stadium chanting Modi’s name on seeing Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Friday, he claimed, “it was a paid-chanting. Modi specialises in this.”
Recalling that the BJP had created similar hype when L.K. Advani had led the party to elections in the past, he said, “Nothing happened then, why would people repose confidence in the party now?”
Accusing the BJP and RSS of being casteist, Siddaramaiah said the Congress had no reason to worry as Modi would not have any impact in the state. “During the assembly elections he campaigned in the coastal districts. But you know what happened. We won seven out of eight seats,” he added.
KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar said the BJP and Modi could spend hundreds of crores on rallies across the country, but people would not vote for them. "One should not give too much importance to Modi as he is the chief minister of only one state,” he maintained.
We will improve South tally: Naidu
We will improve South tally: Naidu
Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member, Venkaiah Naidu claimed on Saturday that the Bengaluru rally of the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi would help it win more seats in South India and set a new political trend in this part of the country.
“South India has 132 Lok Sabha seats and the party will win a large number of them considering the overwhelming response we have received to our Congress Mukt Bharath campaign. We are confident that the South will play a major role in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” Naidu told reporters.
Maintaining that the Congress was becoming desperate on account of the “Modi wave” in the country, he accused it of using the services of 10 Union ministers and many professionals to unleash a disinformation campaign against the Gujarat Chief Minister.
“The Congress is now rattled and is not able to fight Modi either politically or ideologically,” he added, ridiculing Union minister Kapil Sibal’s suggestion that the BJP should reconsider making Modi its Prime Ministerial candidate.
( Source : dc )
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