Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will be travelling for three days across seven districts in Bombay-Karnataka region, which played a key role in Congress’s win in the 2013 state polls. (Files)
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will embark on the second leg of his pre-election tour of Karnataka Saturday. He will be travelling for three days across seven districts in Bombay-Karnataka region, which played a key role in Congress’s win in the 2013 state polls. The Bombay-Karnataka region is spread across districts that were part of the British-era Bombay Presidency. In the second leg, Rahul would travel through what is considered to be heartland of Lingayat community. The community forms the bulwark of BJP’s support base in Karnataka. Lingayats are the single largest community in the state, making up more than 17 per cent of its population. Sections of the community have been demanding status of a separate religion.
Although the Bombay-Karnataka region has many ancient Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples and dargahs and mosques, the Congress president’s tour plan through the districts of Bijapur, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Chikkodi, Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag does not mention any stop at religious places and features only public and street corner meetings with people and party workers. State Congress leaders have, however, indicated that he could visit temples and dargahs on his route.
In the first leg of his tour, during which he visited the districts of Bellary, Koppal, Raichur, Yadgir, Gulbarga and Bidar, Rahul stopped at several prominent local temples and religious centres.
While the Congress president has not stated his intent in visiting religious places during the campaign, state party leaders have admitted that the visits to temples and mutts are aimed at shaking off the “anti-Hindu’’ tag on the party. The BJP, on the other hand, has labelled the visits “tourism’’ and “fake Hinduism’’.
In the 2013 state polls, BJP’s prospects in the crucial Bombay-Karnataka region had taken a hit due to its estrangement with Lingayat strongman B S Yeddyurappa, who launched the KJP. The move cost the BJP dearly with the party’s tally in the region sliding by 20 seats. The Congress went on to win 34 of the 56 seats in the region, 20 more than it won in 2008, putting it on the path to a comfortable majority with 121 seats.
This time, however, Yeddyurappa is back with BJP — he has been named the party’s CM candidate — and is keen to consolidate Lingayat votes. Congress, on the other hand, is hoping for a split in Lingayat votes due to the tussle for the tag of a separate religion.
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