K’taka Elections: Rahul Gandhi Demands PM to Speak on PNB Scam

Political parties – BJP and Congress have already done with several rounds of campaigning in Karnataka, as the state elections are approaching, expected to be held in coming May this year. The ruling Congress party under Siddaramaiah’s chief minister-ship has been reaching to voters by highlighting their tenure’s achievements and pointing out the significant flaws of the BJP government at the centre. Main opposition BJP, on the other side, has been focusing on attacking Congress for their “minority appeasement”, alongside their Hindutva politics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing a public meeting in state’s Davangare district today to mark the Birthday of B.S. Yeddurappa, BJP state president and CM candidate, in the poll-bound state.

While both BJP and Congress are accusing each other on corruption charges, here are the recent developments in their political approaches.

Farmers not happy with BJP

In last three days, heads of both BJP and Congress – Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi were on political tour in the state intensifying the election season. During his campaign, Shah was faced with anguish from farmers whose queries he evaded to answer at instances. For example, in an interaction with farmers in Kalaburagi, farmers raised questions on farm loan waivers, implementation of M S Swaminathan committee report, capping on the quantum of red gram procurement and demand for import duty on pulses, for which Shah did not give specific replies. One farmer was allegedly manhandled during the interaction for raising such questions.

In the press meet held on February 26, Amit Shah vowed to get Mahadayi water to the drought-prone regions in the state and accused CM Siddaramaiah of not resolving the long-standing inter-state water dispute. While BJP in the state has been accusing the ruling Congress for indulging in “minority appeasement”, relying on government circulars which notified to take back cases on people from minority communities, this particular claim on Mahadayi has been of Shah seen as a change in their political narrative.

Siddaramaiah rebutted Shah’s claims and accused BJP of indulging in blackmailing voters. On his twitter handle, he said that B.S. Yeddyurappa, had earlier promised to resolve Mahadayi issue by 15 December last year but failed. He also said that the Prime Minister could have intervened into this issue but did not do so.

Congress aiming to retain Karnataka

Rahul Gandhi had winded up the second phase of his Jana Aashirvada Yatra in the state by participating in rallies mostly in the northern part of the state which is considered as Lingayat heartland. Lingayat community constitutes to about 18 percent of the state population. In his speeches, Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi while demanding answers on the Punjab National Bank scam linking it with prime accused Billionaire designer Nirav Modi’s role.

As per sources, election notification for the 224 assembly constituencies is expected to be released after April 15 and the results of the polls will be out before 28 May.