Ahead of state polls, PM Narendra Modi to focus on Karnataka

BENGALURU: With assembly elections looming, the BJP high command will spare more of its attention for Karnataka, and top functionaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister and chief poll strategist Amit Shah, and the party’s national president JP Nadda will visit the state more often beginning later this month.


Modi will pay a two-day visit to the state from June 20 and his itinerary is jam-packed with high profile political events, including the International Yoga Day celebrations in Mysuru on June 21.

Functionaries say the party is planning events in such a way that Modi’s visit would virtually mark the launch of the BJP’s campaign for the assembly elections. Although polls are still just under a year away, BJP has set its sights on winning 150 seats, a tall order.

“We will have to bank heavily on Modi as he is the only face we can present to win the assembly polls,” said Lahar Singh Siroya, the newly-elected Rajya Sabha member who is seen as close to the high command. “While the legions of karyakartas are raring to go as usual, unfortunately, no local leader has emerged as a credible face after BS Yediyurappa stepped down as chief minister. The party will seek votes in the assembly polls in the name of Modi. ”

Modi will touch down in Bengaluru on June 20 and a series of events have been lined up in the cap ital, including a roadshow from Yelahanka — where he will launch a slew of railway projects and lay the foundation stone for Bengaluru’s suburban rail project — to the Indian Institute of Science. The PM will also inaugurate the swanky Sir M Visvesvaraya Railway terminal at Baiyappanahalli, which has been awaiting a formal launch for more than two years.
Modi will address a public meeting at Kommaghatta near Kengeri, and he is scheduled to lead another roadshow from there to the Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics at the Jnana Bharathi campus.

“We are planning an elaborate public programme. The details of PM Modi’s itinerary are still being worked out,” said Nirmal Kumar Surana, BJP state vicep resident. While BJP is planning to turn Yoga Day celebrations in Mysuru into a big political statement to set the tone for the assembly polls, party functionaries are also planning Modi’s visit to some prominent Lingayat and Vokkaliga mutts to assuage the communities, which are miffed over the textbook controversy.

Surana admitted the state unit of the BJP has requested Modi to spare more time for Karnataka and the Prime Minister is expected to visit the state more often.
Nadda is scheduled to attend an event organised by the BJP OBC Morcha on June 18 and will also address a gathering of the party representatives of rural local bodies in Chitradurga, while Shah is likely to address a mammoth rally in Mandya in July or August.