Netas of BJP, Cong to criss-cross state as they cross swords for 2023

Poll-bound Karnataka will see arch-rivals BJP and Congress hit the streets over the next month to mobilise ground forces and prepare for the Assembly battle that is less than seven months away.

The ruling BJP is anxious to retain power against a resurgent Congress that is leaving no stone unturned to turn the tables on the saffron party. Both parties are looking to make the dust fly.

The BJP has formed two teams - one under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor B S Yediyurappa and another headed by party president Nalin Kumar Kateel - to tour 104 Assembly constituencies. Each team will cover 52 segments.

The tour, which will also cover constituencies where the BJP lost in the 2018 Assembly election, is likely to start on Valmiki Jayanti next month, according to BJP general secretary N Ravikumar. “The tour is mainly to know the pulse of the people and create political atmosphere,” he says.

While Kateel’s team will focus on organisational matters, the team under Bommai and Yediyurappa will be a purely political or electoral outreach.

Making voters aware of central and state schemes, dining in the homes of SC/ST and OBC party workers, visiting mutts and temples will be on the agenda during the tour.

“Our aim is to win 150 Assembly constituencies and we are working on the ground to achieve that. This tour by two teams is one such exercise to reach voters,” Ravikumar adds.

The BJP has also formed five separate teams to visit 24 districts to mobilise support among OBCs, who make up over 30% of the state’s population.

These teams will do the groundwork for a massive OBC convention planned by the party, according to BJP’s OBC morcha president N L Narendra Babu.

Amid all this, the BJP is identifying influential voters - 500 in a district and 100 in a mandal (akin to a taluk) - such as celebrities, sportspersons and writers who will be contacted to boost the party’s prospects.

Meanwhile, the Congress’ ambitious Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Karnataka on September 30 via Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district.

While the march is a nationwide exercise to rejuvenate the Congress, the party’s managers here are pumped up given that Rahul Gandhi and the entourage are coming at an “opportune” time.

State Congress leaders have asked Rahul to talk about corruption during his march in Karnataka, which will span 510 km over 21 days.

“The Bharat Jodo Yatra has a nationalistic approach, but there will be resonance with the state’s voters,” Karnataka Congress’ communications chief Priyank Kharge says.

“We will talk about price rise, which is affecting people of the state. We will bring up unemployment - just look at those protesting at Freedom Park. And, we will discuss constitutional values in the wake of divisive issues that the state has seen. So, all these things that Rahul is walking for will have strong resonance,” he says.

Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar has asked all his lawmakers to mobilise 5,000 people from each of the 224 Assembly constituencies for the ‘Bharat Jodo’ march.

Some MLAs, however, have frowned upon this number, citing logistical difficulties.

The march, before exiting Karnataka through Raichur, will culminate in a massive public rally scheduled in Ballari on October 19.

Party sources say Ballari was picked as it is a strategic location, and a throwback to the Congress’ gamechanger foot march to the mining district that proved helpful in its 2013 victory.

The Deve Gowda-led JD(S), too, will start its Pancha Rathna Yatra after Vijayadashami.

The tour, led by former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, will reach all 224 assembly segments. This will also see Kumaraswamy restart his famous ‘grama vastavya’ (stayover in villages).