The clash between the Congress and the BJP are slugging it out in the open in Mysore, with so much heat and dust generated in the confrontation that has escalated into a no holds barred attack.
BJP candidate Pratap Simha has launched an aggressive campaign, and his rhetoric against the Prime Minister (whom he described as a “mute spectator” in response to the beheading of Indian soldiers by Pakistan) has drawn sharp criticism. The Congress filed a complaint of violation of the poll code and consequently an FIR has been registered against Mr. Simha.
While the Congress had called for a peaceful campaign devoid of inflammatory speeches, it has launched a vitriolic counterattack on the BJP in the last two days. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has repeatedly alluded to the Gujarat riots of 2002, and underlined that the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of that State in those times, and could not be absolved of responsibility for the riots.
The NaMo Brigade’s campaign to drive home the ‘Gujarat Development Model’ in the constituency has been debunked by the Congress, who have their own points to raise on the matter. The BJP has brought up issues of corruption in and scams wrought by the UPA government at the Centre, while the Congress has refocused on the “five years of BJP misrule’ in Karnataka, in which many former Ministers faced charges of corruption and some of them, even a former Chief Minister, were put behind bars.
The JD(S) has yet to start its campaign, and though the last date of filing nominations is Wednesday, the party has yet to announce the name of its candidate officially.
Still, the past week saw its share of drama and activism in the JD(S), which was buoyed by the possibility of senior Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief’s entry into its fold to contest from Mysore. The Congress had an ace in the hole with which it stymied this possibility: it offered Mr. Sharief a Rajya Sabha seat.
The sudden twist in this ‘Jaffer affair’ has left the BJP squirming. It hoped that Mr. Sharief’s entry into the JD(S) would help not only consolidate the Vokkaliga vote against the Congress, but also divide the Muslim community by making them choose between the Congress and Mr. Sharief.
This would have given the BJP an outside chance to upstage its opponents, but all of its efforts have come to a nought.
