The upcoming May 19 byelections to two assembly segments in the state seem to have turned into a battle of prestige for Congress and BJP leaders in the state. Not leaving anything to chance, top leaders from both the parties are going all guns blazing into the polls.
Determined to retain the seats that it had won in 2018 assembly elections, the Congress has virtually deployed all its leaders in these two constituencies, while former CM and party state unit president BS Yeddyurappa is leading the BJP’s campaign. “It is a prestige issue for the Congress party and all of us as one of our ‘very own’ has betrayed the party and joined BJP,’” said Eshwar Khandre, Congress candidate from Bidar LS constituency.
The BJP, however, seem to be not concerned about big contingent of Congress leaders in both the segments. “Our strategy is different from that of Congress. We are directly reaching out to voters and explaining to them why they should not vote for Congress,” said BJP General Secretary and MLC N Ravi Kumar.
In Kundagol, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar has taken charge of the Congress campaign, while JDS leaders, including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy too are likely to be part of joint rallies. For the BJP, many senior leaders including Jagadish Shettar, KS Eshwarappa, V Somanna are campaigning extensively. In 2018, BJP candidate SI Chikkangoudar had lost with a narrow margin of around 600 votes which he is confident of overcoming while the Congress is banking on sympathy
factor working for its candidate Kusuma Shivalli, wife of CS Shivalli.
Agencies
