BENGALURU, 9 MARCH

Even as the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP are yet to come out with their full list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, there is a fair idea about the campaign issues in their armoury.

The recent bomb blast at Rameswaram Café here and the raising of "pro-Pakistan" slogans in the corridors of Vidhana Soudha have given fresh ammunition to BJP to attack the Congress government. "The twin issues have given us a momentum of sorts in campaigning," a senior BJP leader said.

Congress would seek to ride on the popularity of its "guarantee schemes" and make BJP-led NDA government's "step-motherly" attitude towards the State a major poll plank, party sources said.

Political analysts said water scarcity in many parts of the State is also likely to emerge as a key campaign talking point with Congress and BJP bound to indulge in trading blame.

The Congress on 8 March released its first list of seven candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in the State. BJP-JD(S) combine is yet to come out with its list of nominees. For BJP, which lost the Assembly elections in May last year, Karnataka is the most important as it is the only State in the south where it had held power.

Congress banking on guarantees 

Congress sources said the government's guarantees -- 'Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti', 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya' -- have caught the imagination of the people and the party would harp on them in the run-up to the elections.

The party has been alleging that the Central government has been indifferent towards Karnataka in giving the State its due share and has not provided the assistance it had requested to tackle drought in many parts of the state. "We gave the first memorandum to the Centre on 20 October, 2023 to release Rs 18,172 crore for drought mitigation but till now the Centre did not give even a penny," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said. 

The Chief Minister along with his cabinet colleagues, Congress MLAs and MPs on 7 February staged a demonstration in Delhi against the "injustice" to the State in releasing funds and giving its share of Central grants. 

BJP to harp on 'Pakistan zindabad' slogans case

On the other hand, BJP President JP Nadda set the tone for the party's campaign while addressing booth-level party workers at Chikkodi in Belagavi district earlier this week. He accused the Congress and its party government in Karnataka of being soft on terrorists as he referred to the chanting of 'Pakistan zindabad' slogans during the victory celebrations of Congress candidate Syed Naseer Hussain in Rajya Sabha elections here on 27 February, and the 1 March low-intensity bomb blast at 'The Rameshwaram Cafe' where 10 people were injured.

"For Congress, the Karnataka government has become 'ATM government'. They will collect money from here and fill the bags of their party in Delhi, and do more corruption here," Nadda said.

BJP swept the 2019 General Elections, bagging 25 of the total 28 seats in the state, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh) backed by the party also emerged victorious. Congress and JD(S), which were running a coalition government back then and fought the election together, had come a cropper winning just one seat each.

But the political scene has changed significantly since then; Congress scored a thumping victory in the Assembly elections in May last year and now appears determined to put up a strong show in the Lok Sabha polls. It is also a role reversal of sorts for JD(S) which joined BJP-led NDA in September last year and wants to prove that it's still a force to reckon with, particularly in South Karnataka. -PTI