The Union minister is holding the roadshow in Bangalore Rural to take on Congress nominee DK Suresh over his separate nation remark.
Amit Shah with BJP Karnataka unit leaders. (Supplied)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is all set to begin his Lok Sabha campaigning in Karnataka from the Bangalore Rural constituency — home turf of KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar — on Tuesday, 2 April.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched his poll campaign from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s hometown Kalaburagi.
The BJP has nominated noted cardiologist Dr CN Manjunath — son-in-law of JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda — as its candidate from the constituency.
Manjunath will be taking on DK Suresh — brother of Shivakumar — the lone MP of the Congress in Karnataka.
BJP had created a huge uproar after Suresh had voiced for a separate nation over the Union government’s alleged fiscal injustice to southern States, especially Karnataka.
BJP and JD(S) are in alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. The alliance partners have announced candidates for all 28 parliament constituencies, where the BJP will be contesting in 25 and JD(S) in three.
Before launching his campaign, Shah is scheduled to chair a breakfast meeting with its alliance partner JD(S) at a private hotel in Bengaluru on 2 April.
This will mark the first official meeting being chaired between the alliance partners under the headship of Shah.
According to BJP sources: “Amit Shah will begin his day’s schedule by holding a breakfast meeting with the JD(S) leaders at a private hotel. Then, he will address a huge rally at palace grounds, where the voters from Bangalore Rural, Bangalore South, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central and Chikkaballapura will participate.”
Meanwhile, the JD(S) will not only submit the ground report of the three seats they are contesting but also discuss the ongoing tensions between the party workers of alliance partners in a few constituencies.
The JD(S) is likely to raise the ongoing difference between the cadres of the alliance partners in some constituencies in the state.
Several JD(S) leaders including MLAs had complained before Kumaraswamy that the BJP is sidelining and not considering them for any poll-related activities.
Though the matter was discussed with the BJP’s state leadership, the regional party is planning to escalate this during the Shah’s breakfast meeting.
JD(S) state president and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy expressed hope that the alliance partners will win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
“The election process has begun. Whatever information we have will be shared with Amit Shah and provide feedback (on the campaigns),” he said.
“We are going to win all the 28 seats. Everything is going well in all the seats. We believe that minor issues should not hinder our goals. We will discuss all issues (with him).”
“There is a roadshow in Channapatna on Tuesday evening. We will also try to send a clear message to the state during the roadshow,” Kumaraswamy said adding that he will also take part in the roadshow.
Kumaraswamy is the incumbent MLA of Channapatna and BJP candidate Manjunath is his brother-in-law.
On condition of anonymity, a JD(S) MLA told South First: “The primary discussion in the meeting will be on the unity among the two parties. We will highlight the differences that are there between the alliance partners in some constituencies.”
“There are no serious differences between the alliance partners. We will also discuss the poll strategy in all three seats. We will also present our ground report and other details to the Union Minister in the meeting,” added the JD(S) MLA.
JD(S) is contesting in Kolar, Mandya and Hassan parliament seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The party has announced candidates for the three seats.
The Tuesday visit will be Shah’s first visit to Karnataka after the dates of the election were declared. Sources in the BJP said that Shah will chair a meeting with leaders of the four parliament seats including Tumakuru and Chitradurga (SC).
“After the public rally, he will meet the party leaders of Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, Chitradurga (SC) and Davanagere seats. In the evening, he will head to Channapatanna, where he will hold a mega roadshow. In the meantime, a video campaigning programme ‘Dhanyavada Modi’ (Thanks to Modi) will also be launched,” claimed sources in the party.
On condition of anonymity, a BJP leader told South First: “Amit Shah will hold detailed deliberations about the parliament elections with the JD(S). He will also collect the information and ground report from them.”
“Subsequently, he is expected to provide insights and discuss strategies for the parliamentary elections. The leaders from both parties have extended invitations for Amit Shah’s events on 2 April,” added the BJP leader.
He also stated that Shah opted to begin his campaigning from the Bangalore Rural seat over incumbent Suresh demanding a separate nation (over fiscal injustice). He is likely to send a message to the opposition on the unity as well.
Karnataka is going for the polling in two phases, with the first phase scheduled on 26 April and the second phase on 7 May.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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