The Prime Minister’s electioneering will see nearly 20 rallies and roadshows till May 7. And he will spend this entire weekend in Karnataka doing six rallies and two big roadshows in Bengaluru and Mysore. His campaign is expected to be pitched on four major issues.
Plan of traction
The first is a strong attack on the Congress for calling him “a poisonous snake” and slogans like “Modi teri kabr khudegi”. The second pitch is expected to be slamming the “Congress model of election freebies” and its “unfulfilled poll promises” in other states. The third likely to be highlighting the “appeasement policy” of the Congress in not acting against the Popular Front of India (PFI) for all these years, and for backing the 4% Muslim reservation in the state that “deprives” Lingayats and Vokkaligas of extra reservation. The fourth pitch of the PM could be imploring voters to believe in his model of governance and vote for “double-engine development” that brings infrastructure and funding as well as a host of welfare schemes for the people.
In doing so, the BJP hopes to pitch the election more on national issues rather than hyper-local issues and cash in on Modi’s popularity which saw the party win challenging states like Uttarakhand and Tripura for the second time in a row, defeating history. The Congress, however, feels Karnataka is different as a southern state and believes people have already made up their minds to vote out the BJP given the “weak governance” of chief minister BS Bommai and the party’s tallest state face BS Yediyurappa bowing out of politics.
Will Kharge’s comment backfire?
The Congress feels that Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment, calling PM Modi a “poisonous snake”, will not affect its chances as the Karnataka election is pitched on the issue of local-level corruption and the four guarantees promised by the Congress to voters in the form of poll sops like Rs 1,500 per month to each woman and Rs 3,000 per month to every graduate. However, there seems to be some uneasiness over the comment in state Congress circles which explains why Kharge immediately offered his “special regret”.
PM Modi, however, is not likely to let off the Congress on this and is expected to project this as an example of the constant hatred of the Gandhi family and Congress for him, citing earlier remarks like “Maut ka saudagar”, ‘Neech aadmi”, and “Modi teri kabr khudegi”. The BJP feels such personal attacks on Modi always boomerang on the Congress and this may happen in Karnataka too. Union home minister Amit Shah in his rallies on Friday attacked the Congress on the “poisonous snake” remark of Kharge.
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