Modi in Karnataka: BJP hopes top campaigner delivers extra 30 seats

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, April 28: The Karnataka Assembly election is testing the sharpness of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll machinery, and the saffron outfit is hoping that the party’s top mascot Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers three per cent extra votes to help stay in power in the state.

Modi will start his Karnataka election campaign on Friday. This will be his first outing in the state after the announcement of the poll date by the Election Commission several days ago. He will begin the campaign from North Karnataka, which had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the BJP in the last Assembly elections.

“We are hoping that Modi factor brings additional 30 Assembly seats to the kitty of the BJP in Karnataka. Without Modi factor, the BJP will be clearly short of the halfway mark by a distance. But the Modi campaign can swing votes, which may bring the BJP closer to the halfway mark,” said a senior BJP functionary. Karnataka has a total of 224 Assembly seats, and the BJP has never won a simple majority on its own in the state. Karnataka also has not voted an incumbent government back to power since 1983.

“The Modi factor had worked in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. All that we need is that he swings three per cent vote share in favour of the BJP. With additional three per cent vote share, the BJP may gain a simple majority on its own,” added the BJP functionary. The BJP had won 25 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2019, and one independent supported by the party also had come out victorious out of the total 28 seats from the state.

While Modi had extensively held public meetings and roadshows in the run up to the announcement of the poll date by the Election Commission during which he had inaugurated and laid foundation of several projects, he has not been seen in action for several days in Karnataka, with party leaders claiming that the prime minister’s campaigning would be strategically utilised for swing impact in the state.

“Modi may visit Karnataka three to four times and address 12-15 rallies and also take part in the roadshows. He will lend his weight to brisk and intense campaign in the last 10 days of electioneering. He has already asked the BJP workers during the virtual meeting on Thursday through NaMo App to ensure that the party wins the polling booths,” said another BJP functionary.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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