In a bid to boost the party's chances in the Northern Karnataka region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend four mega election rallies in Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Ballari on Sunday. Interestingly, the Prime Minister's election campaign will coincide with Congress's protest against the 'paltry' drought relief given by the Centre to the state.
The Prime Minister who arrived at Kundanagari Belgaum on Saturday evening was welcomed by former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar and other dignitaries.
Former chief minister and BJP leader Jagdish Shettar welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kundanagari Belgaum | ANI
Of the total 28 seats in the state, voting was held at 14 Lok Sabha seats. The constituencies that will go to polls in the second phase (May 7) are Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur, Chikkodi, Davanagere, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Haveri, Ballari, Koppal, Raichur, Shimoga, and Uttara Kannada.
During the 2019 elections, the BJP had performed well, winning 25 out of 28 seats in the state.
In all 14 seats, the fight is directly between the BJP and the Congress. NDA ally JD(S) is not contesting in any of the seats in the North Karnataka region.
The saffron party traditionally is backed by the Lingayats, the single biggest community numerically in the state. The other is Vokkaliga, which mostly supports the JD(S) and Congress in some pockets. However, this time things aren't smooth for BJP as some Lingayat seers have warned of rebellion against the party. They allege BJP representative and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi of neglect and disrespect toward the community. The last Assembly elections saw the Lingayats siding with the Congress, leading to the BJP losing power.
Meanwhile, the Congress in Karnataka will stage a protest on Sunday against the 'paltry' drought relief given by Centre. The Congress has been using 'empty promises' as a poll plank against the Centre this Lok Sabha elections.
arnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, while announcing the demonstration, said the Centre has sanctioned only Rs 3,454 crore against the demand for Rs 18,172 crore to mitigate drought in the state.
"The union government has announced a very paltry sum of relief, which will be grossly insufficient to provide drought relief to farmers. In this regard, we have decided to stage a protest near the Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha. We will also continue our legal battle for more drought relief. We are not seeking alms, this is our right," he told reporters on Saturday.
Shivakumar said Karnataka had only sought 50 per cent of the estimated loss of Rs 35,000 crore, but the Centre has agreed to release only a fraction of that.
