Bommai to ride on Modi’s Yogi like pat for next year’s Assembly polls

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By Manish Anand

New Delhi, June 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his whirlwind laying of foundation stones and inaugurations of developmental projects in Bengaluru on Monday launched the state chief minister Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP’s campaign for the Assembly elections next year.

Modi while addressing a rally in Bengaluru remarked that many development projects are still to be executed by CM Bommai.

This is being read in the political circle in the state as a bid endorsement of Bommai’s leadership ahead of the Assembly elections.

The state political observers are also equating the Bengaluru rally of Modi with his endorsement of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ahead of the state Assembly elections.

Modi’s backing of Bommai could prove instrumental in the chief minister building the election campaign even while the state BJP leaders claim that the party’s national general secretary (organization) B L Santhosh’s interference in the affairs of the party in the state is clearly visible.

Bommai will be completing one year in the office as the chief minister soon.

The BJP has already launched its poll preparations in the state by setting the target to win 150 Assembly seats.

With the JD (S) seemingly getting marginalized amid the resurgence of the Congress on the back of strong state leadership, the BJP will have to square off with both the parties and may count on division of the Opposition vote base in the event the two rivals don’t strike a pre-poll alliance.

The recently held Rajya Sabha elections in the state in which the BJP won an additional seat showed that the Congress and the JD (S) are far from having working relations to build a pre-poll alliance.

Subsequently, the JD (S) rout in the recently held MLC elections may embolden the Congress to go solo in the next year’s Assembly elections.

Bommai is clearly scripting an image of a chief minister pursuing the development agenda, working closely with the BJP-led Central government to build on the double-engine government narrative.

The chief minister is learnt to have instructed the state administrations to fast-track the implementation of the schemes for 100 per cent saturation, which can help him build on the beneficiary constituency on the lines of UP.

Claiming the Lingayata legacy, Bommai is seen to be working in close coordination with his mentor and the former chief minister BS Yediyurappato to keep the BJP flock intact ahead of the Assembly elections.

The Bommai camp is counting on the support of the top brass of the BJP, saying that the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah by visiting the residence of the chief minister for dinner during his recent visit had already sent a loud message to the rank and file of the party in the state.

On Monday, Modi laid the foundation stones of a slew of developmental projects, including the Bengaluru sub-urban rail, two sections of the Ring Road, among others, which the Bommai government hopes to cash in on to build the poll narrative for the rejuvenation of Bengaluru for New Karnataka.