Top two leaders of Janata Dal (Secular) H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy are on a whirlwind tour with a mission to reach out to electorates in all the 224 constituencies, but their styles of campaign are starkly different.
While Mr. Kumaraswamy has chosen aerial route to cover at least 120 constituencies in Mumbai and Hyderabad Karnataka region, Mr. Gowda has opted to road mode and cover over 60 constituencies in old Mysore region, where party has its roots.
Special vehicle
Mr. Gowda who toured his native Hassan district on Sunday, campaigned in Yeshwantpur, Hebbal and Rajajinagar constituencies on Monday. “He is travelling in ‘Janashakti’, a specially designed vehicle, which makes the tour a bit comfortable for the aged leader”, said Ramesh Babu, party’s official spokesperson. “The vehicle with hydraulic lift will enable Mr. Gowda to address the gathering by being in the vehicle”, he added.
Mr. Kumaraswamy had opted chopper to cover over 120 constituencies.
“As I have to cover all the constituencies by May 2, there is no other way excepting opting for chopper. Chopper will be used between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and after that I will use specially designed vehicle for campaigning, as Election Commission permitted to campaign till 10 p.m., ” Mr. Kumaraswamy told The Hindu .
While ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress drafted services of their national leaders to campaign, JD (S) is facing scarcity of “star” campaigners.
