Cong, BJP turning K’taka into virtual battleground
1 May 2013 6:48 AM IST
The Congress and BJP have turned the Karnataka Assembly elections into a virtual battleground, with campaigning increasingly getting fierce, nasty, personal and bitter.
BJP star campaigner Narendra Modi's repeated attack on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi at a public rally here has evoked sharp reaction from the latter's party leaders here, who have questioned the Gujarat Chief Minister's development model.
Modi is slated for a ‘final offensive’ on May two, a day before campaigning for the May five polls would end, addressing rallies in Belgaum and Mangalore seeking to ‘swing that one per cent vote’, as one BJP leader put it.
BJP President Rajnath Singh, senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj have actively participated in campaigning in recent days as the party, fighting anti-incumbency factor, is determined to give its best shot at efforts to retain power, which as of now looks a tall order.
Smelling blood, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to storm into power, enthused as it is by some poll surveys which predicted that the party is the front-runner to form Government.
Rahul is slated to address three rallies in Mandya, Hassan and Belgaum on Wednesday, while Sonia Gandhi likely to address public meetings in Gulbarga and here a day later. In sharp contrast, barring former Chief Minister H D Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, JDS doesn't have any star campaigners, and the latter has entirely shouldered responsibility.
Corruption has emerged as the main campaign theme with the Congress accusing the BJP of being the ‘most corrupt’ government the State has seen, while the ruling party sought to turn the tables seeking to highlight 2G and Commonwealth Games scams under UPA.
‘LACK OF BELLARY FACTOR WILL VOTE OUT BJP GOVT’
Corruption during its tenure and the absence of ‘Bellary factor’ would lead to voting out of office of the BJP Government and Congress getting absolute majority, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Tuesday. Chavan, who was incharge of party affairs in Karnataka for the 2008 Assembly polls, argued that the Congress would have come to power then but for the ‘Bellary problem’. ‘In 2008, BJP political fortunes were completely based on proceeds of crime out of mining scandals coming out of Bellary (mining scam)’, he told reporters here, adding, the Congress lost then because nothing was done despite his party complaining to the Election Commission, and filing petitions before the Lokayukta. The campaign against mining scam initiated by the Congress then had resulted in ‘corruption being proven’ with a Chief Minister (B S Yeddyurappa) and some Ministers (G Janardhana Reddy) going to jail, Chavan claimed.
BJP star campaigner Narendra Modi's repeated attack on Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi at a public rally here has evoked sharp reaction from the latter's party leaders here, who have questioned the Gujarat Chief Minister's development model.
Modi is slated for a ‘final offensive’ on May two, a day before campaigning for the May five polls would end, addressing rallies in Belgaum and Mangalore seeking to ‘swing that one per cent vote’, as one BJP leader put it.
BJP President Rajnath Singh, senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj have actively participated in campaigning in recent days as the party, fighting anti-incumbency factor, is determined to give its best shot at efforts to retain power, which as of now looks a tall order.
Smelling blood, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to storm into power, enthused as it is by some poll surveys which predicted that the party is the front-runner to form Government.
Rahul is slated to address three rallies in Mandya, Hassan and Belgaum on Wednesday, while Sonia Gandhi likely to address public meetings in Gulbarga and here a day later. In sharp contrast, barring former Chief Minister H D Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, JDS doesn't have any star campaigners, and the latter has entirely shouldered responsibility.
Corruption has emerged as the main campaign theme with the Congress accusing the BJP of being the ‘most corrupt’ government the State has seen, while the ruling party sought to turn the tables seeking to highlight 2G and Commonwealth Games scams under UPA.
‘LACK OF BELLARY FACTOR WILL VOTE OUT BJP GOVT’
Corruption during its tenure and the absence of ‘Bellary factor’ would lead to voting out of office of the BJP Government and Congress getting absolute majority, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Tuesday. Chavan, who was incharge of party affairs in Karnataka for the 2008 Assembly polls, argued that the Congress would have come to power then but for the ‘Bellary problem’. ‘In 2008, BJP political fortunes were completely based on proceeds of crime out of mining scandals coming out of Bellary (mining scam)’, he told reporters here, adding, the Congress lost then because nothing was done despite his party complaining to the Election Commission, and filing petitions before the Lokayukta. The campaign against mining scam initiated by the Congress then had resulted in ‘corruption being proven’ with a Chief Minister (B S Yeddyurappa) and some Ministers (G Janardhana Reddy) going to jail, Chavan claimed.
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