Bangalore: The big fight for Karnataka will commence with a face off in Gulbarga with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi set to sound the poll bugle from this backward district next month.
With their sights set on five Lok Sabha seats in the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region, Gandhi and Modi will address rallies in Gulbarga on February 1 and February 18 respectively. Subsequently, other leaders of both the parties will pull out all the stops to win these seats in the elections.
These seats were traditional Congress strongholds till the BJP made inroads in the ‘90s and subsequently wrested them thanks to the clout of the Reddy brothers and their supporters.
The BJP, however, lacks significant presence at the grassroots’ level as well as the support of voters belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and backward classes and minorities.
While CoÂngÂress leaders would attempt to make the most of the feat of the UPA government which announced a package for development of the backward region through Article 371 (J) of the Constitution, their BJP counterparts would find it difficult to secure the support of voters who recognize only former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa among leaders of that party.
Therefore, to introduce Modi and project him as the Prime Ministerial candidate, local BJP leaders banked on the soil and iron implements’ collection drive for the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue recently.
The drive was launched under the leadership of former minister Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani in these districts. Besides, these leaders plan to whip up emotions of local people over the recent death of sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande in an encounter with a notorious criminal in Gulbarga, according to sources in the state unit of BJP.
Sources in the pradesh Congress committee said Gandhi would inaugurate an Employees State Insurance (ESI) hospital besides addressing the rally on February 1.
