Ballari saw Sonia’s LS debut, now a rally here to mark 1,000 km of Rahul Yatra

Party to bring leaders from other states for Friday rally, kick off Cong campaign for 2023 polls in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, that was once dominated by it.

Ballari town, with its deep association for the Congress due to Sonia Gandhi's win from here in a high-stakes battle against late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, will also see a rally by Rahul. (Express/File)

COME Friday evening, on its 37th day, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra will enter Ballari town, after completing 1,000 km of walking. The town, with its deep association for the Congress due to Sonia Gandhi’s win from here in a high-stakes battle against late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, will also see a rally by Rahul.

The planned congregation, including leaders of the party from other states, will be the first major Congress event in what was earlier known as the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, and is now called Kalyana-Karnataka, ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

Also Read | Yatra vs Yatra in Karnataka: BJP goes head-to-head with Bharat Jodo this week

With the Congress still commanding some influence in Ballari, it expects a rally here to leave an impression on the entire region, covering nearly 30 Assembly seats.

“Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will be among several national leaders who will participate in the rally,” Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar said Thursday.

Ballari used to be a stronghold of the Congress before the BJP started making inroads. Of its nine Assembly segments, six have Congress MLAs and three BJP. The MP seat of the region is held by the BJP.

It was because it was a safe seat for the Congress that Ballari was picked for Sonia Gandhi to contest from, for her electoral debut in 1999, apart from the family bastion of Amethi. With then Delhi CM Swaraj joining the contest, it had been projected by the BJP as a fight between “videshi bahu” and “swadeshi beti”. Sonia had defeated Swaraj by about 56,100 votes in the Lok Sabha seat.

From 2004 to 2014 though, the Ballari Lok Sabha seat was held by the BJP.

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Senior Congress leader H K Patil said Ballari slipped from the party hands in the 2000s due to the influence of the Reddy brothers and mining barons.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi is walking, but is he covering the needed distance?

Patil said that the Congress had zeroed in on Ballari for Sonia, after a decision was taken to look for a seat outside North India for her. “Later, she gave up the seat and the Reddy brothers’ influence made a huge difference. But when they were caught in the mining scam, the Congress returned and has continued to dominate.”

Asked about the strategy behind picking Ballari as venue for the Friday rally, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said they had no such “strategy”. Theirs was “a nationwide movement”, they wanted a rally before finishing the Karnataka leg, and Ballari fell enroute, he argued.

Apart from the symbolic significance of Ballari for the party, the Congress also hopes to reach out to the Scheduled Tribes through the rally. The STs, traditionally Congress voters, are in high numbers in the region.

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Earlier, as part of preparations for next year’s polls, the Congress had organised a Mekedatu march in old Mysuru region and senior leader Siddaramaiah’s birthday in Central Karnataka.