Karnataka Elections 2023 UPDATES | BJP thinks democratic principles are in its pockets: Sonia Gandhi

Taking a jibe at the "double-engine" government of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked how much share, each of the two engines got in "corruption". The former MP shared a video on Twitter, containing clips of his address to the people, and data purportedly attacking the ruling BJP.

Taking a jibe at the Congress party, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that in whichever state the party has offered guarantees, it has lost the elections miserably. He added that Congress has done "half" of the Bharatiya Janata Party's job by "giving guarantees" in Karnataka as well.

Raising the pitch for the BJP’s election campaign in south Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday held massive roadshows at Puttur and Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district and Karkala in Udupi. Adityanath, who first arrived in Puttur, where party candidate Asha Thimmappa Gowda is pitted against Ashok Kumar Rai of Congress and a BJP rebel Arun Kumar Puthila, said the BJP is taking the country on path of progress. 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday urged the Election Commission to ban Prime Minister Narendra Modi from campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka. Speaking at a press conference here, he alleged that Modi was seeking votes on the basis of religion in the southern state. "Modi is seeking votes on the basis of religion in violation of the Election Commission guidelines. He should be barred from poll campaigning," Gehlot said.

Addressing a rally in Hubballi, Congress former president Sonia Gandhi took on the BJP, saying the saffron party  got "perturbed by Bharat Jodo Yatra." "Bharat Jodo Yatra was done against people who do only one work which is spreading hatred. Such people can never bring any development in Karnataka. BJP got perturbed by Bharat Jodo Yatra. The people of the BJP don't give reply to any questions. They think democratic principles are in their pockets. Does democracy work like this?" she added. 

EC issues notice to Karnataka Cong on 'corruption rate card' advertisement, seeks empirical evidence to prove allegations.

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi reached Hubbali. She is slated to address a public rally here and campaign for the party. 

Addressing a rally in Chikkaballapur, BJP chief JP Nadda lambasted Congress, saying the party is not concerned about the issues and topics of this country. "Congress is not concerned about the issues & topics of this country. Congress is doing appeasement politics earlier they closed the doors of Ram Lalla temple & now they are locking Bajrang Bali. People will soon make them learn a lesson," he added. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again hit out at Congress while addressing an election rally in Badami. "Congress will not leave the old habit of appeasement politics, vote bank politics, closing the schemes of the BJP govt and abusing the Lingayat & OBC community and then if they have nothing to do then abusing PM Modi. The whole of Karnataka is sad with Congress' diplomacy," he said. 

As part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) election campaign ahead of the Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister held a roadshow in Udupi today. 

As the election campaign enters its last leg, Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda held a roadshow at Chintamani in Chikkaballapura district.

The ruling BJP, hoping to retain power and beating the anti-incumbency factor in Karnataka, has got a shot in the arm with the Congress proposal to ban the Bajrang Dal. Congress insiders confide that the move by the party has given undue advantage to the BJP. Bharatiya Janata Party insiders say they are celebrating the self goal by the Congress and want to keep the issue alive till the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The BJP, which was struggling to keep the Hindu vote bank intact, has heaved a sigh of relief. BJP leaders proclaimed that the Bajrang Dal is an extension of the RSS like the BJP. The Congress proposal also gave the BJP an opportunity to reach out to the masses and make more inroads for the Bajrang Dal. Barring the coastal regions, the presence of the Bajrang Dal is minimal in the state, but now the hue and cry surrounding the organisation will help it to grow, say sources. The momentum is like the hijab crisis, where a large section of young students volunteered to join the RSS and Hindu organisations.

Political parties in Karnataka are all set to cash in on the exasperation and disappointment of the government employees demanding the scrapping of National Pension Scheme (NPS) and re-introduction of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls. The ruling BJP formed a committee on reintroducing OPS by studying states that have scrapped the market-linked NPS. It assured of a suitable action after the report gets submitted to the government. Understandably, the party took the step at the fag end of its tenure to avoid inviting any wrath of government employees during elections. The government employees and pensioners form a large group of voters in the state. The protests have been staged for the re-introduction of the OPS. However, the issue cropped up as pensions under the OPS for government employees became one of the top promises made by the Congress in its manifesto for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

The meeting of some senior Congress leaders, including the party leader and nonagenarian Shamanur Shivasankarappa who is also the president of the Akhila Bharathiya Veerashaiva Mahasabha, has given heartburns to the BJP. Senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa is a powerful voice in the Lingayat community, being the president of the Akhila Bharathiya Veerashaiva Mahasabha and closely related to Jagadish Shettar with the latter's son married to the granddaughter of the former. The Congress leaders, according to sources in the Shettar camp, have convinced the Lingayat Mutt that the BJP was trying to systematically annihilate the Lingayat leadership in the saffron party with the forced exit of Yediyurappa from the Chief Minister's post being the first action.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Gonikoppa said, "DK Shivakumar is a family member of Tipu Sultan. If Congress will regain power, Karnataka will become a PFI valley,"

Former BJP leader Jagadish Shettar has committed a "political blunder" by joining its rival Congress and should have rather fought as an independent candidate since that gave him a better chance of winning in the May 10 Assembly polls, senior ruling party leader and Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hedge Kageri has said. In an interview to PTI, Kageri said, there could have been some impact had Shettar not joined the Congress. "By joining the Congress, it became negative," the senior BJP leader said. Shettar, also a former chief minister, defected to the Congress over denial of a ticket to contest from Hubli-Dharwad Central assembly segment, from where he has been winning since 1994. Kageri said Shettar is one of his closest friends. When he had come to submit the resignation letter, he tried to convince Shettar for two hours, but in vain. "I was really upset that day," he added.

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Ahead of PM Modi's mega roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is "locking up" the entire city and creating "chaos and uncertainty" for students.The Prime Minister is set to hold a nearly 36.6-km roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday covering 17 assembly constituencies of the city, in the last leg of the campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a 26 km long roadshow in Bengaluru.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday referred to the violence in Manipur to say that Karnataka voters should beware of the "spurious promise of a double-engine government". Chidambaram's assertion came in the wake of violence in Manipur between tribals and the majority Meitei community which has displaced over 9,000 people from their villages. Fifty-five columns of the Army and Assam Rifles had to be deployed to contain widespread rioting. "Look at the consequences of the 'double engine sarkar' in Manipur. Both engines have failed. The state government is broken with internal dissensions. The central government has a trigger-happy solution to all issues," Chidambaram said on Twitter.

Congress workers in Karnataka's Hubbali are upbeat as former party chief Sonia Gandhi will reach the city in Saturday to campaign for former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and all other candidates in Dharwad district. A heavy contingent of police is deployed at Hubbali as Sonia Gandhi is an SPG protectee. More than 3000 policemen are deployed at various points in Hubbali and the ground where she will speak is taken over by the SPG. According to Congress leadership, Gandhi will speak at the Young Stars Sports Ground in Hubbali at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Congress President Mallkiarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders will be present at the rally. Congress candidates in all the seven constituencies of Dharwad will also participate. Hubbali, according to Congress camp, is the only place where Gandhi is campaigning in the state for the May 10 elections.

Mounting a fresh attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday alleged that for the sake of vote bank politics, it has nurtured, given shelter and surrendered before terror. Wading into the controversy surrounding the movie 'The Kerala Story', Modi said the film is said to be a work based on the terrorists' deceitful policies and conspiracies in just one state, and accused the Congress of indulging in backdoor political bargaining with people having terror inclinations. "To make Karnataka number one state in the country, law and order is important. Karnataka remaining free from terror is equally important. BJP has always been harsh against terror. But whenever there is action against terror, Congress will get a stomach ache," Modi said. Addressing a public meeting here with just days to go for the May 10 Assembly polls in the state, Modi said the whole world is worried today about the danger of terrorism and that India too has on several occasions suffered due to it. The country has lost a large number of innocent civilians due to terror attacks. "Terrorism is anti-humanity, anti-human values and anti-development. I am surprised that for the sake of its vote bank, Congress has surrendered before terror. Can such a party protect Karnataka and its civilians in any way? Under the climate of terror, the industries here, the IT industry, farmers, and rich culture and heritage here will be destroyed, " he added. Claiming that the Congress has lost courage to speak against terror, Modi alleged that for the sake of vote bank politics, the party has nurtured and given shelter to terror. "With changing times, the nature of terror is also changing. Whether smuggling or drug trade or communal frenzy, all are somehow connected to terror," he said.

Karnataka will witness a single phase of voting on May 10 (Wednesday), whereas, results will be declared on May 13 (Saturday). Notably, the term of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will be ending on May 24. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that more than 9.17 lakh first-time voters will be participating in the upcoming elections in Karnataka.

The Congress is ready with a plan to loot Karnataka if voted to power and has a rate card for "transfer, posting and commission", the BJP said on Friday after the opposition party released "corruption rate card" posters to attack its rival in the poll-bound state. Ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, the Congress through the posters as well as advertisements also accused the BJP of having "sold governance" in the state during its tenure. Hitting back, BJP's Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh said, "The Congress in Karnataka has announced its rate list for transfer, posting and commission before the people. If voted to power, there is a complete plan (of the Congress) to loot but this will remain a dream for the party. People know everything. "The BJP is going to form its 'double engine' government with full majority under the leadership of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji," he asserted in a tweet in Hindi.