Cong, BJP leaders from State to campaign in M'rashtra

Congress and BJP leaders from the State will campaign for their respective party candidates for the October 15 Assembly elections in neighbouring Maharashtra.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and some of his ministerial colleagues, including S R Patil and H K Patil, are likely to participate in the campaign this weekend. Siddaramaiah is likely to campaign for two days. But the party high command has not yet finalised the dates and locations of his election campaign, party sources said.

The KPCC is said to be waiting for a request from the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee on the Karnataka leaders who need to campaign in the polls. The MPCC will inform the KPCC on its requirements and also plan the campaign.

The State BJP has formed several teams comprising leaders, party functionaries and workers for the Maharashtra polls. Union ministers from the State (Ananth Kumar, D V Sadananda Gowda, G M Siddeshwara), State party president Pralhad Joshi, former chief ministers B S Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar will campaign in Maharashtra.

Party functionaries and workers will help in arrangements and logistics, BJP sources said. They have been asked to focus on Solapur, Khanapur and Mumbai region, which have a considerable Kannada-speaking population.The information technology cell of the State BJP unit will help its counterpart in Maharashtra.