Since the beginning of this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the state that is heading to polls on May 10 seven times and News18 has learnt that he will be holding nearly 24 public rallies in the BJP’s southern bastion in the next month.
As one BJP leader from Karnataka puts it “wait and watch, picture abhi baaki hai. BJP will be a super hit in Karnataka’s election”. The prime minister may also camp in the state for a few days towards the end of the campaign. The other major draw for the party will be former chief minister BS Yediyurappa who could do the maximum number of public meetings for the BJP.
With BJP’s internal surveys indicating that the battle for power will be a tough one, Karnataka BJP leaders — including Bommai — hope that this time around, PM Modi’s charisma and the BJP’s development card save the government from anti-incumbency.
Until March 25 this year, BJP’s central leadership — including PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and national president JP Nadda — has together frequented the state 24 times to infuse confidence among partymen and boost the party’s prospects in Karnataka.
“Modi-ji commands a lot of love and respect among the people of Karnataka. People have seen how the double-engine government has delivered project after project for their welfare. That is what will finally give us that winning stroke to take us comfortably to the finishing line,” said a south Karnataka BJP MLA.
In a recently held closed-door core committee meeting of the BJP, the party has chalked out a clear plan on the seats that are sure shot winners and ones that need an additional push. This is why the party is taking its own time to announce the candidate list, explained a state BJP leader.
“In every meeting, it is stressed that winnability is the top priority and all leaders should work cohesively to help one another win and bring the BJP back to power as the single-largest party,” said the leader who did not want to be named. The BJP’s central leadership has set a target of winning 150 plus seats for the state unit in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
Interestingly, in the last three months, PM Modi has covered almost every region in Karnataka except for coastal Karnataka. This region, especially Dakshin Kannada, is known to be BJP’s ‘Hindutva’ laboratory and the party hopes to wrest as many seats in their favour and reduce the hold of the opposition Congress. The prime minister’s visits have been to launch a slew of development projects or inaugurate events in key regions of the state where the BJP hopes to gain more ground like Kalaburgi, Tumakuru, Mandya, Chikkaballapur, Shivamogga, and Huballi.
Until now, in the run-up to the elections, the prime minister has launched development projects of over Rs 40,000 crore in the areas of irrigation, drinking water, transport, and education in just three months.
Since the beginning of this year, PM Modi visited Karnataka on January 12 where he inaugurated the National Youth Festival in Hubballi and later held a massive roadshow which was seen as BJP’s poll bugle. Modi was back in Karnataka a week later on January 19 and he visited Yadgir and Kalburagi as part of a programme to distribute ‘hakku patra’ (claim letters) and give title deeds to more than 50,000 families belonging to Banjara and Lambani communities of the region.
In February, he visited Karnataka six times. On February 6, he inaugurated the India Energy Week in Bengaluru and later proceeded to Biderahalli Kaval in Tumakuru where he inaugurated the helicopter factory of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which he dedicated to the nation. He also laid the foundation stone for two Jal Jeevan Mission projects for Tiptur and Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru. Once again, on February 13, he inaugurated India’s biggest air show — Aero India 2023.
PM Modi’s visit on February 27 was one of the visits where the state received a major bonanza with projects worth over Rs 2,500 crore being launched. He inaugurated the Shivamogga Airport and later travelled to Belagavi where he officially released Rs 16,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through direct benefits transfer to over 80 million beneficiaries. He later inaugurated the 118 km-long Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, the new campus of IIT Dharwad, and the Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Hubballi Station, the longest railway platform in the world.
In March, PM Modi visited the state twice — once on March 12 where he dedicated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth around Rs 16,000 crore for key road projects in Mandya and later in Hubbali-Dharwad.
The most recent visit by the prime minister on March 25 was to inaugurate the Whitefield Metro Line, a connection that will benefit Bengaluru’s IT sector.
The frequent visits by BJP bigwigs have given the Opposition a handle to mock the party for ‘being on tenterhooks’. Senior Congress leader Mansoor Khan called it a “desperate act since the BJP has failed to provide good governance”.
“It’s like they are in the ICU and they hope that Doctor Modi will resuscitate them and bring them back to life,” he told News18.
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