The high decibel campaign for bypolls in 15 Assembly constituencies came to an end on Tuesday with most top leaders involved in last-minute roadshows for their party candidates.
In contrast, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who spearheaded the BJP’s campaign for the bypolls stayed indoors at his residence in the city. After a whirlwind campaign in three bypoll-bound Assembly segments in Belagavi on Monday, the Chief Minister returned home by around 12.30 p.m. Tuesday. Earlier, there were plans to go to Hoskote, but later dropped, sources said.
The Chief Minister was closeted with senior party strategists taking stock of the party’s situation in all the 15 seats. Meanwhile, BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel held a roadshow in Hunsur on Tuesday. Ministers from the city – R. Ashok, V. Somanna, and S. Suresh Kumar – campaigned for BJP’s candidates in Mahalakshmi Layout, K.R. Puram and Yeshwantpur.
Siddaramaiah in Hunsur
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah campaigned for the Congress nominee H.P. Manjunath in Hunsur, and addressed a huge rally seeking votes for party candidate K.B. Chandrashekar in K.R. Pet. Amidst speculations over a possible alliance with JD(S), he said that the JD(S) is as much a political rival as the BJP.
Another former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy restricted his movement to Mahalakshmi Layout.
In Belagavi district where Athani, Gokak and Kagwad Assembly constituencies are going for bypolls, most of the leaders had camped till Monday and left the district by Tuesday. Besides Mr. Yediyurappa, JD(S) leaders H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy and Congress leader M.B. Patil left on Tuesday.
How to grow rich
In Vijayanagar, BJP candidate for the segment Anand Singh did not forget to play the new Vijayanagar district card. He also told the voters how N. Nagaraju (MTB), the BJP candidate for Hosakote, became a rich man overnight. “Mr. Nagaraju’s family was not rich. But, he did not sell his ancestors lands. When the land prices shot up, he sold them and got rich. I advice you not to sell your lands. The new Vijayanagar district would be formed with Hosapete as its headquarters and your land price will also shoot up,” he told the villages near Hosapete town.
Offering explanations
Meanwhile, disqualified legislators have been facing embarrassing times during campaign. Shrimant Patil, who is contesting on BJP ticket from Kagwad, told a sympathiser that his political opponents had spread canards about him saying he had accepted bribe from some leaders to defect to the BJP. “I am tired of telling people that I have not taken any money,” he told the family of a BJP worker.
Another disqualified legislator and BJP candidate in Gokak Ramesh Jarkiholi took pains to explain to Muslim leaders on his decision to join the saffron party. As long as he was in charge in Gokak, he would not allow any violent incidents or law and order disturbances, he promised.
