Bengaluru: The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and senior leader Sushma Swaraj are in big demand with state BJP workers demanding that they campaign in Karnataka.
The party’s campaign is due to start after March 30 with the cadre demanding that Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi address as many public rallies as possible in their constituencies. After Narendra Modi, the next in demand for campaigning is senior leader Sushma Swaraj. Party national president Rajnath Singh, party veteran L.K. Advani and other senior leaders are also set to address public rallies in the state.
Though the party cadre wanted Ms Swaraj to address public rallies, there is no communication forthcoming from Ms. Swaraj regarding her tour in Karnataka.
It may be recalled that Ms Swaraj had strongly opposed the reentry of B. Sriramulu into BJP. Party sources said that Ms Swaraj likely to avoid campaigning in Karnataka, because the state BJP overlooked her opposition to the reinduction of Sriramulu.
Party public campaign in-charge, Basavaraj said that with Ugadi festival set to be celebrated on March 31, the campaigns of star campaigners will be finalized after that.
Mr Narendra Modi will address two public rallies on March 30 at Bijapur and Belgaum. He is likely to address four rallies in the state except Bengaluru.
In April first week, he will address two rallies in Mysore and Shimoga, said BJP sources. Mr. Modi is unlikely to address rallies in Bengaluru City since he has already addressed one rally at Bengaluru in November, 2013.
Along with BJP national star campaigners, the state unit has 40 star campaigners in its list including former Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa, BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar, former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Prahlad Joshi, MLC Tara Anuradha, Malavika Avinash and others. Source said former Chief Ministers’ B.S. Yeddyurappa and D.V. Sadananda Gowda are in demand for campaigning.
