New Delhi : Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge will return to his home state Karnataka on April 22 where he will seek votes in support of party nominees in two key seats- Bengaluru Rural and Chikkaballapur.
“The Congress chief will campaign in Bengaluru Rural and Chikkaballapur seats on April 22. We left the chief minister’s chair for the JD-S in 2018 to keep the BJP out but now they have ditched us. The people will teach them a lesson,” AICC secretary in charge of Karnataka Abhishek Dutt told ETV Bharat.
Sitting MP DK Suresh, brother of state unit chief and deputy chief minister DK Shiv Kumar, is the Congress nominee from the Bengaluru Rural seat this time and is pitted against Dr CK Manjunath, son in law of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, as a BJP-JD-S alliance candidate, making it a high-profile contest.
In the previous 2019 polls, DK Suresh was the lone MP from the Congress in Karnataka. The Congress had fought the 2019 elections in alliance with JD-S and had contested 21 out of 28 seats. The party could win only Bengaluru Rural against a BJP wave which gave 25 seats to the saffron party. The JD-S contested 7 seats and won only 1 seat.
This time, the JD-S has joined hands with the BJP and is contesting 3 seats. For the DK brothers, retaining the Bengaluru Rural seat has become a prestige issue as the deputy chief minister has promised Kharge to deliver 20 seats in 2024 based on the historic mandate the party achieved in 2023 by winning 135 out of 224 seats in the assembly polls.
In Chikkaballapur, represented by veteran Veerappa Moily in the past, the Congress has fielded a younger face Raksha Ramaiah who is pitted against K Sudhakar of the BJP.
“The Congress campaign is going on very well. The BJP is trying to polarize the polls but the voters have become aware. The Congress will reverse the 2019 trend this time and win 25 seats,” former union minister Veerappa Moily told ETV Bharat.
“DK Suresh is a son of the soil and he remains among the people round the year. He is fighting a good election. His rival Dr Manjunath is a good doctor but he has made a mistake by joining the political contest. DK Suresh is going to win the election. In Chikkaballapur, Raksha Ramaiah is running a good campaign and he is also going to win,” he said.
According to the former union minister, a democracy fatigue had set in the country due to non-fulfillment of the central government’s promises over the past 10 years.
“A large number of first-time voters who got registered did not opt to vote and large parts of Nagaland did not vote in phase 1. This democracy fatigue is dangerous for the country. The central government’s policies are responsible for the situation. The youth are frustrated,” said Moily.
The Congress veteran claimed that the social welfare agenda being implemented by the Karnataka government and promised by the grand old party nationally will make a difference.
“Jobs and price rise are the real issues and people will respond to the party talking about it. Not to those who seek to divide people over religious or caste lines,” Moily added.
Read more
- 'One-Sided Voting In Favour Of BJP-NDA': PM Modi Claims Historic Win On June 4 In Maharashtra Rally
- PM Modi Thanks Voters; Says People Are Voting for NDA in Record Numbers
- War Clouds Hovering over World, Strong BJP Govt Needed to Protect Country, Says PM
- In Amroha on Polling Day, Modi Plays Drum, Says Son of the Soil Shami Beats 'Desh Ka Danka'
