It’s a slog for Bengaluru candidates

BENGALURU: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday, while campaigning for the BJP’s Bengaluru South candidate Tejasvi Surya, said people should vote for Narendra Modi-led BJP to establish a corruption-free government in New Delhi yet again.

Sitharaman launched a door-to-door campaign in JP Nagar for Surya. “Surya is a youngster who can work round-the-clock like Modi,” the minister told a small group near Ranga Shankara theatre.

With three days to go for electioneering in public to end, campaigning hit a fever pitch on Sunday. Candidates attempted to use Dr BR Ambedkar’s birthday celebrations to their advantage. They were all seen garlanding Ambedkar statues across the city.

Krishna Byregowda, a Congress candidate from Bengaluru North, whose camp tried to woo youngsters through flashmobs last week, went for a more colourful way to appeal to young voters by organising a folk-rap performance by a band at a mall. Byregowda said: “Rap and Hip Hop have their roots in oppressed communities and is the music of liberation and freedom. It is therefore appropriate that the young citizens of Bengaluru and Karnataka, who have faced many struggles under the BJP led authoritarian regime, have taken to folk rap to express their political needs. I will carry this voice with me to Parliament. I will make the change felt at the Centre.”

His BJP rival, DV Sadananda Gowda, launched Maha Samparka Dina, reaching out to voters at the booth level in all eight assembly segments in Bengaluru North. Yeddyurappa in the evening addressed public rally held in Sadashivanagar to seek votes for Sadananda. In Bengaluru Central, Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad conducted roadshows throughout the day, while his BJP rival, PC Mohan, went to door-to-door seeking votes.

More lung spaces for Bengaluru

BK Hariprasad, a Congress candidate from Bengaluru South, promised voters four new botanical gardens in the city on the lines of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. “The burgeoning growth of Bengaluru calls for new lung spaces,” Hariprasad said at a media interaction. “I will develop four botanical gardens. One of them can be in Bommanhalli.”