New Delhi: Keeping his focus on Karnataka, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will campaign in key seats like Bijapur and Bellary on April 26, when 14 seats in the southern state will go to polls. The remaining 14 seats will have polls on May 7.
“Rahul Gandhi will campaign in Bijapur and Bellary seats on April 26. The party’s campaign is strong and we hope to win at least 20 seats,” AICC secretary in charge of Karnataka Abhishek Dutt told ETV Bharat.
In Bijapur reserved seat, BJP MP Ramesh Jigajinagi is pitted against Raju Algur of the Congress. The grand old party is banking on the six MLAs in the district to win the national polls but there is a concern over whether the Banjara community will vote for Congress or not. In the past, the Congress used to field a candidate from the Banjara community but it has given ticket to a Dalit Algur this time.
The Congress is also banking on the work done by the Siddaramaiah government over the past one year. In fact, the Congress was so confident in Bijapur that it had announced the name of Algur even before the poll dates were announced.
In 2019, BJP’s Ramesh Jigajinagi had defeated JD-S’s Sunita Chavhan. The Congress and the JD-S had an alliance in the previous national polls but the regional party has sided with the BJP in 2024.
In Bellary, known for mining fields, Congress’ E Tukaram is pitted against BJP’s B Sriramulu. In the previous 2019 national polls, BJP’s Y Devendrappa defeated Congress’ VS Ugrappa.
In the past, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had defeated BJP’s Sushma Swaraj in the 1999 national polls. But things have changed now and recently mining baron G Janardhan Reddy joined the BJP. The Congress had then questioned the BJP’s stand on corruption as several cases are pending against Reddy.
The Congress had fought the 2019 national elections in alliance with JD-S and had contested 21 out of 28 seats. The grand old 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, chief minister K Siddaramaiah has assured the high command that the Congress will win at least 20 of the 28 seats. Given the close contest in Karnataka, the Congress managers have followed a four-pronged strategy to counter the BJP in the southern state.
“Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are campaigning in the state. They individually attack the BJP from three sides. The fourth side is the state leadership which is campaigning across the seats. Rahul Gandhi has been very aggressive in this campaign and his visit to Bijapur and Bellary will benefit us,” Congress Working Committee permanent invitee BK Hari Prasad told ETV Bharat.
“In comparison, it is only PM Modi and HM Shah from the BJP’s side who are campaigning. Besides, our leaders are talking about unemployment and price rise issues which affect people while they are talking about Hindu-Muslim, mutton and fish, which are divisive issues,” he said.
"The local leaders have been working hard on the ground. The BJP is trying to polarize the elections but the voters are aware. Our social welfare schemes specially women's allowance have had a good impact in the area," senior leader and Congress nominee from Bijapur in 2014 national polls Prakash Rathod told ETV Bharat.
