Bengaluru: Despite claims by the Congress party that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given up the idea of campaigning in Karnataka as the BJP is on a losing wicket here, it appears he is likely to address 10 or 12 rallies in Chikkodi, Raichur, Bengaluru and Vijayapura, starting April 18 or 20.
Party general secretary and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, Shobha Karandlaje told the Deccan Chronicle that the state unit had requested the Prime Minister to hold over 12 rallies in the state.
Congress president, Rahul Gandhi has already concluded much of his Karnataka tour and going by party sources , may address a few more rallies in places he has not visited yet. “Local party leaders and Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah himself are so popular that Mr Gandhi might not make the effort to tour the state again,” they added.
By contrast, the BJP seems to be heavily banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to see it through these elections. "He addressed a few rallies and now, his tour will be finalised only after the finalisation of candidates. For us, Mr Modi has to present the candidate to the voters as this will send a different message to them," said a senior leader, recalling that the last time Mr Modi addressed rallies, he coined two catchy phrases, “Ten percent sarkar” and Seeda Rupaiah (instead of Siddaramaiah) government” to drive home his charge that the Congress government in the state was corrupt.
“We give local and state feedback to him. But the Prime Minister knew how to coin new phrases to reach out to the masses,” said Ms Karandlaje too.
BJP to finalise 2nd list today
The Central Parliamentary Board of BJP is likely to meet in New Delhi on Sunday to finalise the second list of candidates to enter the fray in next month’s elections to the Legislative Assembly. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and party president, Amit Shah, will participate in the meeting.
Ahead of Sunday’s meeting, six leaders including Mr Shah, Union ministers Piyush Goel and D V Sadananda Gowda, H N Ananth Kumar, general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao, and state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa, held a marathon meeting in Hubballi on Thursday and discussed the second list at length. The list will get the top leadership’s stamp of approval on Sunday.
