Bengaluru, May 6 (Representative) The roadshows of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in key parts of Karnataka witnessed a spectacular show until today, but the first of the two roadshows in Bengaluru on Saturday for the final push before assembly elections in Karnataka, can be a gamechanger and create a history in state’s electoral politics.In the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, BJP fell short of nine seats, garnering 104 seats out of the 224 seats in state assembly, emerging as the single-largest party. But, a prompt phone call from Sonia Gandhi to HD Deve Gowda paved the way to form the JDS-Congress coalition government. The bonhomie, however, did not last and it fell after 17-odd disgruntled MLAs of Congress and JDS deserted the parties and joined hands with the BJP to form the government under BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister. The nemesis for BJP, according to psephologists and the chintan shibir of the BJP, was the poor performance of the party, especially in Bengaluru city and a few parts of Karnataka due to the failure of its workers to micro-manage at the booth levels.So, BJP won only 8 out of 18 seats in Bengaluru city, but PM Modi and Karnataka BJP leaders do not want a repeat performance of the 2018 election in 2023. BJP had won 4 seats – Basavanagudi, Bommanahalli, Govindraj Nagar and Padmanabha Nagar – out of the six seats in Bengaluru South assembly constituency.And in Bengaluru North, the BJP won only one seat, that is Malleshwaram, out of the six seats, while it won 3 seats in Bangalore Urban assembly constituency. This time, BJP plans to make a clean sweep in Bengaluru city, and this is the reason why PM Modi has spent more time traversing 26-dd kms in Bengaluru city today. He will also hold a 10-km roadshow in the city tomorrow as well.
The constituencies through which his cavalcade passed today include Padmanabha Nagar where R Askok, the former Deputy Chief Minister and sitting Revenue Minister of Karnataka, is fighting the election. He is also fighting against Congress strongman and Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar from Kanakapura constituency also, in a bid to restrict his campaigning in his constituency. This is in line with a 50-km odd roadshow held by PM Modi in Ahmedabad city in the final push to the 2022 assembly election in Gujarat. Out of the 20 assembly seats in Ahmedabad city, BJP won 18 seats, except Muslim-dominated constituencies of Jamalpur Khadia and Danilimda which went to the Indian National Congress. Probably on the backfoot over the response for PM Modi’s roadshows in Karnataka, the Congress is questioning the tallest BJP leader’s roadshows.The grand old party is asking why Modi, after addressing rallies during the day, is holding roadshows wherever he is campaigning. It is also arguing that the BJP is in a weak position. If this logic of the Congress is true then it should also fit well to the campaigns of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Today, former AICC President Sonia Gandhi is attending an election rally in Hubballi for turncoat Congress leader Jagadish Shettar. Surely, these arguments are childish and illogical.
Had PM Modi spent less time and energy on campaigning in Karnataka, the same Congress leaders would have said, BJP is losing and that’s why he is keeping away from campaigning in full steam. Devoting maximum time and energy in election campaigns has always been in the blood of PM Modi, which has surprised his rivals. And it goes without saying that he enjoys campaigning which gives him an opportunity to take some time off from the matters of the country to connect with the people directly. Also, the fine-tuned strategy of PM Modi is BJP’s USP, which is very different from Rahul Gandhi’s, the biggest star campaigner for the Congress. His Bharat Jodi Yatra may be a good effort, but if he is not regularly visible in Delhi and Karnataka, can he invigorate the spark among the party workers to win an election? Modi also has one more USP that works in BJP’s favour. His rivals unknowingly throw brickbats at him during campaigns, and he does not miss an opportunity to make it as a weapon to put them on the mat. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described him as a venomous snake in an election rally in Karnataka and his party promised to ban Bajrang Dal in its election manifesto. Modi picked up these issues, asking the voters to teach Congress a lesson by pushing buttons for the BJP by chanting Jai Bajrang Bali at polling booths. It is surprising that the Congress leaders, time and again, give a long handle for PM Modi to use it against them, and yet hardly realise its counter-productiveness. If someone describes Modi as a poisonous snake, the people will not tolerate it, considering the tremendous response by the people during his roadshows. Some of them today in Bengaluru city, called PM Modi as “Sakshat Ram” and God.Congress has a good base in Karnataka, and instead of hurling invectives at PM Modi, they could have unveiled a roadmap or a vision for the development of Karnataka, which might have reaped electoral gains.