Karnataka Assembly polls: PM Modi starts campaign from BJP’s weak spot

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: PM Modi will address a rally in Santhemarahalli town of Chamarajanagar district, where the party has never been very strong, as local leaders believe the BJP has the opportunity to make gains in the region.

PM Modi will subsequently address a rally each at Udupi in coastal Karnataka and Chikkodi in north Karnataka on Tuesday.

Expected to boost the BJP’s campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address his first rally, of 15 scheduled over five days, in southern Karnataka, where the party is organisationally weak and has traditionally finished behind the Congress and the JD(S).

Modi will address a rally in Santhemarahalli town of Chamarajanagar district, where the party has never been very strong, as local leaders believe the BJP has the opportunity to make gains in the region. Modi will subsequently address a rally each at Udupi in coastal Karnataka and Chikkodi in north Karnataka on Tuesday.

Read | Karnataka elections 2018: PM Narendra Modi to address 15 rallies in 5 days, BJP expects clear edge

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Southern Karnataka comprises eight seats, including Varuna in Mysuru district, vacated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his son Yathindra. The Congress swept the region in 2008, while the JD(S) won one of the eight seats in 2013.

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With three of these eight seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, besides one for Scheduled Tribes, former Nanjangud MLA V Srinivas Prasad, a key leader from the SC community who left the Congress last year to join the BJP, is expected to help the party prevent consolidation of the sizeable Dalit vote in favour of the Congress.

The BJP is also banking on support of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, which has a strong presence in many constituencies of the region. Unlike Lingayats in north Karnataka, who identify themselves as a separate sect and whom the Congress is trying to woo, Lingayats in south Karnataka tend to identify itself as Veerashaiva Hindus, rather than as a separate religion.

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Along with the vacuum in Congress with the death of H C Mahadev Prasad, former MLA and an influential Lingayat leader in the region, the BJP is looking to exploit anger of the Veerashaiva community over the Siddaramaiah government’s move to accord a separate religion status to Lingayats.

Interestingly, B Y Vijayendra, son of BJP’s CM candidate and Lingayat strongman B S Yeddyurappa, had managed to create create an impact in the region among Veerashaiva Lingayat voters after briefly leading the campaign to take on Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra in Varuna seat. “Although the BJP eventually did not give the ticket to Vijayendra, he managed to create some wave for the party among the Veerashaiva Lingayat community and other groups opposed to Siddaramaiah’s dominance in the region,’’ a Yeddyurappa aide said.

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While Yeddyurappa will be present at Modi’s first rally on Tuesday, he will not be a part of any of the subsequent ones. BJP sources said Yeddyurappa and BJP chief Amit Shah will carry out roadshows and smaller meetings to support candidates in their constituencies.

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