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The Karnataka Pradesh’s Congress Committee(KPCC) has announced a new campaign. This particular election in Karnataka has given us some interesting views into how state politics works in the state. The idea of ‘your constituency, your responsibility’ can be a new step for Congress that could give it an edge in the upcoming elections.
KPCC’s campaign
The congress committee has decided to put senior leaders in charge of specific polling booths. This new campaign was announced by G. Parameshwar. These booths would be situated where they would gain maximum votes. This new strategy is yet to prove its metal on the ground. This is not very different from BJP’s campaign of appointing ‘panna parmukhas’ in each booth. The fight is over 57,000 booths. Ministers like Siddaramaiah, would be in charge of the booths they will be voting at. This move will involve a majority of workers in the party and not just the senior leaders.
This would also require training of the workers concerned. Whatsapp groups are to be created for each booth and workers will also be trained to use social media. This is only part of the congress campaign which also involves Rahul Gandhi’s arrival on February 10th in Karnataka. Congress will also attempt to bring film stars and celebrities to support their campaign. Rahul Gandhi’s bus has in fact arrived in Bengaluru’s Palace Grounds and is being guarded. Rahul Gandhi’s campaign will last for 3 days spread all over Karnataka.
The competition
One can see things heating up in Karnataka’s elections with Amit Shah’s arrival. The Mahadayi issue which brought the parties at loggerheads still rings bells in the background. But what is important to note is that both parties have their eyes set on the ultimate prize. The politics in Karnataka will find itself even more entangled once PM Modi’s address on February 4th.
Moreover, February 4th will not be the last visit to Karnataka by Modi. BJP’s campaign so far has been highly reliant on Modi’s image and figure so far, while Congress has been playing the defense. Even Amit Shah is said to be visiting on the 10th and 15th of February. BJP has not only announced a farmer’s rally to mark Yeddyurappa’s birthday but a Cow Protection Yagna too on February 2nd. The competition to Congress is not likely to be easy.
One should wonder, how will these elections play out? The disappointment really is that there are only two options that dominate the media space, only two options presented to the voter to choose from. It really is shocking, that every election is dominated by the two parties, in a country where we know neither of them is perfect. The voter will have to look a little harder, look a little further than Congress and BJP. If not, they can close their eyes, play inky-pinky-ponky and cast their vote.