The stage will be set for the next round of the Legislative Assembly elections, due in a few months from now, with top leaders of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party scheduled to arrive here in early February to launch their respective party’s campaign.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be in Bengaluru on February 4 to participate in the valedictory function of the Parivarthana rally, which is expected to be attended by a large gathering of people. BJP activists from all the districts are expected to arrive in Bengaluru to hear the Prime Minister and the event will be attended by all the BJP leaders, more so, since it will be a precursor to the election campaign of the party.
President of the All India Congress Committee Rahul Gandhi will be in Bengaluru and the adjoining districts for three days from February 10, and his programmes will be marked by a close interaction with the people, public rallies, and meetings with party leaders. He is expected to galvanise the party over the next few weeks before setting foot in the State for the election campaign.
It should be noted that both the Congress and the BJP have done their homework well in terms of finalising an effective strategy to convey their respective message to the people. After the Gujarat election campaign where they led their parties from the front, both Mr. Modi and Mr. Gandhi are expected to occupy the centre-stage in the election campaign in Karnataka, as well.
The valedictory function of the Parivarthana rally, as part of which the State BJP top brass, led by president B.S. Yeddyurappa, have extensively toured all the districts to convey the message that the BJP would turn around the State by focusing on development is aimed at telling people that they should prefer the BJP to the Congress. It is for this very reason that the Prime Minister will be the main speaker, and the gathering will comprise of BJP activists from all parts of the State.
It is another matter that the BJP has to show that there is a “parivarthana” within the party compared to what it was in the 2008–13 period when it governed the State and faced a plethora of charges marked by maladministration, corruption and poor governance. The claim now is that the deep differences among some of the key leaders within the BJP have been ironed out and that the entire rank and file is united and fighting fit. It will, however, be the post-election period which will show up whether this is true.
The Congress in Karnataka is in a strikingly similar position to what the BJP was in Gujarat during the run-up to the Assembly elections in that State and is obviously putting in the best efforts to retain its hold over the State. Should it be successful, then it would be the first time in over three decades that it would have tasted victory in two successive elections. The roads of Bengaluru have changed for the better and the stepped-up pace in the implementation of the phase two of the metro rail project is an obvious reflection of the efforts being made to win the mandate. It will be difficult to dispute the fact that the government of Siddaramaiah is now pro-people and pro-development and far different from what it was in the first four years of the term of the incumbent Legislative Assembly.
(The writer is Resident Representative, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Bengaluru)
