Indus Valley Times

BENGALURU,MAY 1: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to turn the tide in its favour. Close to 100 national leaders, including the PM and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, are campaigning across the state to boost the party’s prospects.

While the BJP is hoping to buck the trend and return to power, most survey reports and the situation on the ground indicate that it is not going to be an easy task.

On its part, the party has set an ambitious target of winning 140 seats.

Apart from the PM’s popularity, the party hopes that social engineering of increasing reservation quota for SC/STs and OBCs, and fielding many new faces, will help the party. 

The big challenge for the BJP is retaining its Lingayat support base, as the Congress is making concerted efforts to make a dent in that segment, which will have a major impact across many segments in North Karnataka.

It is yet to be seen if the exit of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi will have any impact on that front. The BJP was also put on the defensive by the Congress’s aggressive campaign on the 40 per cent corruption charges against the government.  

BJP hopes to make the most of Congress’ folly in Karnataka

BJP State Secretary N Ravikumar told The New Indian Express that after fielding candidates, the party did the survey and found that people are in favour in many pockets where the BJP has a slight presence.

“For instance, in Bidar, there was one BJP MLA, which we are hoping will be three this time. Raichur has two sitting MLAs, and we are looking at five seats this time.

Overall, we are getting better numbers everywhere and will come back to power in Karnataka,” he said.

Actor Sudeep, Mandya MP Sumalatha and many others are campaigning for the BJP. “Congress does not have new campaigners, nor do they have new voters like we do,” he added.

If there is any hope of rejuvenation for the Congress across the country, it is in the state of Karnataka. The party, which was in power between 2013 and 2018, is expecting a similar situation this time. Click here to read more on the strengths and weaknesses of the Grand Old Party ahead of the May 10 polls.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular) is hoping to make a strong comeback. The party could be staring at a do-or-die scenario, as the number of seats it wins may largely decide the future course of the party. Read more on the road ahead for HD Deve Gowda lead state behemoth.

AAP, which recently emerged as a national party, has fielded 209 candidates. Many of them are farmers, doctors, lawyers and engineers. Some of them may put up a good fight in some constituencies, especially in Bengaluru.

-The New Indian Express