Karnataka Election LIVE Updates: PM Modi's 2-day Visit Starts From Bidar Today, to Hold 5-km Road Show in Bengaluru Later

As the May 10 Karnataka election nears, political parties are deploying their best soldiers for campaigning in the state. Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar too went to the neighbouring state and shared some winning strategies with the cadre on Friday. He canvassed at Yelahanka on behalf of local BJP candidate SR Vishwanath. READ MORE

Can Prime Minister Narendra Modi again swing a state election the Bharatiya Janata Party’s way in what seems a tight contest so far in Karnataka? The Congress, with the “poisonous snake” comment, has certainly given some timely ammunition to Modi as the PM starts a whirlwind political campaign in the southern state on Saturday. READ MORE

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday asked state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar does he think “Dalits and backward classes are beggars?”

Reacting to Shivakumar’s statement that Lingayats and Vokkaligas are not beggars, the Chief Minister said during a roadshow in support of the BJP candidate in Sedam, Rajkumar Patil Sedam, that the Congress has the habit of “keeping Dalits inside the well and dropping them in the same place after getting their votes”.

“The Congress leaders never thought that I would become the Chief Minister. Once the new quota was implemented, the Congress leaders got scared. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has spoken very badly about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the latter has swallowed all the criticisms and become ‘Nanjunda’ (another name for lord Shiva).”

A day after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a ‘poisonous snake’, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA in Karnataka on Friday termed the former INC chief Sonia Gandhi a ‘visha kanye’ (venomous lady).

Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the BJP legislator from the Vijayapura constituency, questioned Kharge, “if PM Modi is a poisonous snake, then Sonia Gandhi must be visha kanye”?

“Being the president of a national party, Kharge does not know how to respect the Prime Minister,” Yatnal said at a rally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three public meetings and hold a road show in Karnataka on Saturday as he embarks on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state. According to his itinerary, Modi will fly from Delhi on Saturday at 8.20 am by a special aircraft and reach Bidar airport at 10.20 am from where he will take a helicopter to Humnabad in Bidar district to address a public meeting at 11 am.

After the meeting, he will fly to Vijayapura where he will address another public gathering at 1 pm. He will then fly to Kudachi in Belagavi district where he will address people at about 2.45 pm.

Later, Modi would fly to Bengaluru in the evening to hold a road show in Bengaluru North.

BJP leader and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday took aim at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “poisonous snake” jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the veteran leader’s remarks reflect his party’s “cultural and mindset”.

Speaking to reporters, the railway minister said the Congress has never refrained from launching personal attacks on Modi, noting that its former president Sonia Gandhi had once called him “maut ka saudagar”.

Vaishnaw asserted that people have a lot of trust in Modi who has been a leader like no others when it comes to having “moral authority”. People know he is taking the country in the right direction, he said.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after an MLA from the saffron party in Karnataka called Sonia Gandhi a “vishkanya”.

Talking to reporters here, Baghel said, “It appears that the BJP has the right to speak against others, but if anyone speaks about them then there is a problem.” The Congress has demanded the expulsion of the BJP leader, Basangouda Patil Yatnal, asserting that his remarks are the “worst kind” of sacrilege and abuse against Gandhi at the “instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai”.

“The modus operandi of BJP is clear. They target Sonia Gandhi every time. Their (BJP) national leaders have made baseless remarks against her (Sonia Gandhi) several times,” CM Baghel said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday promised allocation of Rs one crore for each village panchayat, and Rs 5,000 crore for the Kalyana Karnataka region if his party is voted to power in the May 10 State Assembly polls.

The former Congress chief also promised to set up an apparel park in Ballari with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

Amid rains, he addressed an election rally at Jevargi in Kalaburagi district, where he promised to fill 50,000 government job vacancies.

The Congress urged the Election Commission (EC) on Friday to ban Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls for their alleged derogatory statements against the minority community that create an atmosphere of communal disharmony.

A delegation of Congress leaders, including Abhishek Singhvi, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik, met the chief election commissioner and the election commissioners, and requested the poll panel to ensure a level-playing field in the southern state.

The Congress is also seeking all legal options with regard to the “vishkanya” remark made against former party chief Sonia Gandhi by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Karnataka on Friday.

• The Congress has released the sixth and last lists of candidates for all 224 seats. The party has replaced Mohammed Yousuf Savanur as its candidate from the Shiggaon constituency in Karnataka, currently under Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai, and fielded Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan instead from there.
• The Janata Dal (Secular) announced 196 out of a total of 224 seats. The JD(S) has announced support to candidates from other parties in seven seats, including one from the Congress.
• The BJP has also released the 4th and last lists of candidates for all 224 seats. The saffron party released its fourth list, naming candidates for the remaining two constituencies Shivamogga and Manvi. In Shivamogga, the BJP has given the ticket to Channabasappa, while denying it to sitting MLA and senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa’s family.

• BJP, Congress and JD(S) are the three largest players in Karnataka polls in 2023.
• While BJP is the ruling party in the state currently, Congress and JD(S) also have a significant presence in the assembly.

• In the 2018 Assembly polls, emerging as the single largest party, BJP had won 104 seats, while Congress and JD(S) could won 80 and 37 seats respectively.
• However, BJP’s tally increased later with several Congress and JD(S) MLAs defecting to join the saffron party.
• Currently, BJP’s tally in the state Assembly is at 119, while the Congress has 75 and Janata Dal (Secular) has 28 seats.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, emerging as the single largest party, BJP had won 104 seats, while Congress and JD(S) could won 80 and 37 seats respectively. However, BJP’s tally increased later with several Congress and JD(S) MLAs defecting to join the saffron party. Currently, BJP’s tally in the state Assembly is at 119, while the Congress has 75 and Janata Dal (Secular) has 28 seats.

Karnataka is seventh largest legislative assembly in India with a total of 224 seats.