The BJP in Karnataka launched its campaign for the May 5 Assembly elections with a massive Vijay Sankalp rally here on Monday. The campaign seemed to put more focus on setting the ground for the 2014 parliamentary elections rather than just winning the state polls. Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh,Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj could not attend the rally after their aircraft from New Delhi reportedly developed a snag. However,Rajnath Singh addressed the rally through video-conference from Delhi. In his address,Singh acknowledged the partys adverse situation after B S Yeddyurappas exit but refrained from attacking him. Instead,he sought to woo the Lingayat community by asserting that Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar,a Lingayat,was going to be the CM if BJP returns to power. He asserted that BJP will not tolerate corruption. At the rally,BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar,Jagadish Shettar and other leaders sounded the poll bugle. There is a political environment in the country that is in favour of the BJP. Karnatakas voters must join this wave. In the past the BJP gave you the Vajpayee model of development,soon the country will have the Narendra Modi model of development, Ananth Kumar said. The price of rice today is Rs 50 per kg. The prices of all commodities are going up. The price of petrol and diesel has shot up. The Congress has given birth to price rise and corruption, he said. He said Modi would come to the state on a whirlwind tour. The BJP has called its current campaign in Karnataka as a path to progress. Please do not fall for the misinformation campaign of the Congress. There were some small differences in the party and some wrongdoing. Please forgive these misdemeanours and restore the BJP government, said former CM Sadananda Gowda.
