Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023

The leaders will arrive in various places of North and South Karnataka to campaign for the May 10 Assembly polls. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will arrive in Mysuru from Lucknow and participate in roadshows and campaigning in Mandya. He will reach North Karnataka's Vijayapura district by noon and visit Basaveshwara temple.

"The pre-poll surveys are always in favour of Congress. They claim that Congress will win and also state that there is going to be intense competition. But after the results are declared, BJP will emerge as the winner," said Shah, who held roadshows and rallies in Yadgir, Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts in the poll-bound state on Tuesday.

He has joined hands with Congress against former minister and BJP heavy weight Ramesh Jarkiholi for the May 10 Assembly polls. Following the development, JD(S) has decided to expel the candidate from the party. Jarkiholi -- the sworn enemy of the state Congress president D.K. Shivakumar -- is being backed by the BJP.

While Priyanka Gandhi will focus on south Karnataka, Shah will campaign in the north Karnataka region. The Congress General Secretary's visit comes a day after senior party leader Rahul Gandhi's trip to Hangal town in Haveri district, during which he appealed to the voters not to give more than 40 seats to the BJP in the much-anticipated elections.

Addressing a public rally at Hangal town in Haveri district, the former Congress president requested the people to give at least 150 seats to Congress, "otherwise the BJP will again try to form a government". "Don't give more than 40 seats to them," he reiterated. Rahul Gandhi said even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of corruption, "he shares the stage with corrupt leaders who take 40 per cent commission".

Speaking to reporters here, Shah maintained that ticket was not denied to Shettar alone, as many others have been denied the same. "We had informed him why he was denied a ticket. The reason can't be discussed with the media," he said. "We will convince the voters in such a way that they will understand. The BJP has a vote bank in the Hubballi-Dharwad Central reagion. The individual is not important, it is the party that is important. Jagadish Shettar is going to lose the elections," he said.

AIADMK candidate, D. Anbarasan withdrew after a request from the BJP national leadership in New Delhi, he said in a statement. Sources in AIADMK told IANS that senior BJP leaders had called Palaniswami directly and requested him to withdraw the AIADMK candidate, pitted against the BJP, in a constituency that has a good presence of Tamil voters.

She said that "things were tweaked, twisted and made an emotional issue because it is election time in Karnataka". Assembly elections in Karnataka are scheduled to be held on May 10. The Union Minister said that to suddenly say that Amul is being brought to Karnataka to kill Nandini is 'brazen'.

While the last date for submitting nomination papers was April 20, the papers were scrutinised on April 21, and the last day for withdrawal of nominations is April 24. According to Congress' Karnataka in-charge, Randeep Surjewala, seven constituencies will witness 'friendly contests' between the two allies as the CPI has already fielded its candidates in those constituencies.

During the tenure of Congress leader Virendra Patil as Chief Minister, Lingayat community used to back the grand-old party and was considered its vote bank. The Congress lost the support of the Lingayat community when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi removed Patil, who hailed from the community, from the Chief Minister's post.