After N-E win, upbeat BJP to scale up campaign in state

The BJP's resounding "Sunya" (zero) to "Shikar" (pinnacle) victory in the hill state of Tripura has boosted the morale of the Karnataka unit of the party which is now planning to scale-up its election campaign at multiple levels, both at the grassroots and in the social media.

The state unit which has nine parallel ongoing simultaneous election campaigns - targetting almost every segment of the electorate from farmers to techies to urban voters - has decided to intensify them in the coming days.

The BJP's penchant for campaigns is in sharp contrast to that of the ruling Congress which goes into poll mode only during the visits of its president Rahul Gandhi. The Congress is yet to complete even one-round of pre-election tour of the state: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah only visited Assembly segments in which the party emerged victorious in the 2013 polls during his tour last month.

On the other end, the BJP has already covered the entire state through the Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivarthana Yatra led by party president B S Yeddyurappa criss-crossing all the 224 Assembly constituencies.

According to sources, the party now plans to increase its presence in the social media. BJP president Amit Shah recently chaired the first district-level social media interaction the party organised in Udupi for its social media workers of the coastal district. More than 1,000 youth participated and pledged to devote at least two hours a day, especially on WhatsApp and Facebook. The party has set a target to reach 51 lakh electorate by creating 20,000 Whatsapp groups.

At the grassroots, the sources said the party will extend its "Save Bengaluru" padayatra campaign to other cities. "Save Mysuru" "Save Kalaburagi", "Save Belagavi", will be launched soon after the completion of the Bengaluru-leg on March 15. The "Save Bengaluru" padayatra is basically a protest march against the "maladministration" of the Congress in running the state capital.

Shah is planning to address a series of "Navashakti conventions" to boost the morale of booth-level workers. Sources said a bungalow near Race Course Road in Bengaluru has been booked for Shah, where he will be setting an "election war room" soon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyananth will be making frequent visits to Karnataka to address election rallies.