Karnataka: BJP, Congress line up massive campaigns

Over the next one month, arch-rivals BJP and the Congress will take out massive, grassroots campaigns across Karnataka in which both parties will knock on the doors of voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress’ Jan Sampark Abhiyan will start on February 15. The month-long campaign will see party workers go door-to-door armed with a booklet that highlights the achievements of previous Congress regimes.

More importantly, the Congress’ narrative will focus on undermining Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma, on the back of which the BJP is expected to woo voters just like it did in 2014. The six-page Kannada booklet calls Modi "the knight of raw lies" and "a lip servant."

"The BJP wants to make it a Modi-centric election, so we will highlight Modi’s failures. People are far more open to listening now, especially after the recent elections. This is what we will take to the people,” Youth Congress’ national campaign in-charge Srivatsa Y B said.

However, Congress workers going door-to-door could end up at BJP homes. The BJP’s month-long door-to-door campaign will start on February 12 in which workers will hoist BJP flags on their homes. Besides visiting households to propagate achievements of the Modi administration, the party will offer door stickers that will read 'Namma Mane, BJP Mane' (our house is a BJP house).

On February 26, the BJP will launch the "Kamala Jyoti" campaign anchored by leaders Shobha Karandlaje and Bharathi Shetty. This will involve visiting homes of beneficiaries of various Central schemes such as Ujjwala, Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat and so on. BJP leaders will interact with them and light a lamp in their house, invoking a sense of commitment toward supporting Modi and the BJP in the upcoming polls.

On February 11, the BJP will organise a nationwide donation campaign called "Samarpan Divas" to mark the death anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay. On March 2, the BJP Yuva Morcha will take out bike rallies in all 224 Assembly constituencies.

While the BJP is known for its grassroots might, the Congress is mindful that its past attempts to reach out to voters on the ground was ineffective. Party leaders say campaigns held before the Assembly polls last year did not yield expected results as the Congress was transitioning itself towards a cadre-based unit.

"We’re going to use an app-based system this time to make the campaign more effective and accountable. Our target is to cover 70-80% households,” Srivatsa said.