Karnataka polls- Modi pushes BJP workers for SC, ST, OBC outreach With Karnataka Assembly election 2018 now on their heads, the BJP and Congress have just one more day to convince and woo voters. Catch all the updates around the Karnataka election here
With the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 just two days away, the BJP and Congress' high-voltage campaigning will come to an end on Thursday at 5 pm. Eyeing a sweep in the crucial state polls, the political parties will hold multiple rallies today in their last attempt to woo the voter. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today interacted with BJP Karnataka's SC/ST/OBC and slum morcha workers, slamming the Congress for disrespecting B R Ambedkar while trying to burnish his own government's record regarding welfare of SC/STs and OBCs.For the BJP, party president Amit Shah and the party's chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa will be campaigning in the state today, while Congress President Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will campaign for their party on the final day.
Here are the top ten developments regarding the May 12 Karnataka Assembly election 2018: 1) Modi speaks to BJP Karnataka's SC/ST/OBC workers, slams Congress for disrespecting Ambedkar: Prime Minister Modi on Thursday interacted with scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward class, and slum morcha workers of the BJP's Karnataka unit.Addressing the workers, Modi said he appreciated the work they did for BJP, adding that morchas "play a vital role in bringing new (the) generation in our fold".Further, Modi said that the BJP has the most number of MPs in parliament who belong to the SC/ST, OBC, and minority communities. 2) Last day of Karnataka polls campaigning today: The high-voltage campaigning for the crucial Karnataka Assembly polls will come to an end on Thursday at 5 pm. The campaign has seen Modi, Shah, Adityanath, Yeddyurappa and other BJP leaders square off against Congress chief Gandhi, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and Siddaramaiah, with both parties going hammer and tongs at each other over who has neglected farmers more and who has more corrupt candidates in the fray, among other topics of contention. 3) Amit Shah, Yeddyurappa roadshow today in Siddaramaiah's constituency: From the BJP, Amit Shah and Yeddyurappa on Thursday will participate in a roadshow in chief minister Siddaramaiah's Badami constituency. The roadshow will commence at 11.30 am from Basaveshwara circle to Ambedkar circle. 4) Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramiah addressing media today: Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Siddaramiah, PCC President G Parmeshwara, Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, Campaign Committee Chairman D K Shivakumar, and other senior leaders, will address a press conference today at 10 am at The Lalit Ashok Hotel, in Bengaluru. 5) 'Prime Minister vs aspiring prime minister': Modi and Gandhi on Wednesday were face-to-face in Karnataka on the second last day for the campaigning, in what one news agency described as the Prime Minister and aspiring prime minister squaring off.Continuing with what he has dubbed the 'Congress Mukt Bharat' mission, Prime Minister Modi used all of his oratory skills to lambast the Congress in his four election rallies on Wednesday. Modi did not miss the political fodder provided by the Congress president, who, on Tuesday, said he would become the prime minister if Congress emerges as the single largest party after the 2019 general elections. 6) Rahul Gandhi says numbers on Congress' side in Karnataka: Attacking BJP's previous government in Karnataka, Gandhi on Wednesday said that when it comes to corruption, the BJP has "won hands down". In a tweet with an attached graphic titled 'Who works better?', Gandhi said, "In Karnataka, when it comes to corruption, it's a 'no contest' as this graphic shows. 7) Modi latches on to Siddaramaiah's gaffe: Reacting to Karnataka Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah's gaffe in an election rally on Tuesday, when he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi instead of Congress candidate Narendra Swamy, the Prime Minister on Wednesday said that the truth has come out. "The chief minister was campaigning for a Congress candidate whose name is also Narendra but he only kept saying Narendra Modi and praised Narendra Modi too. The truth seems to have come out," said Modi. "Why is the agenda of Congress only Modi, I fail to understand," he added. 8) Congress moves EC over Karnataka voter IDs incident: The Congress on Wednesday moved the Election Commission (EC), alleging the BJP's hand behind the Bengaluru incident where counterfoils and voter IDs were recovered from a flat in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar Assembly constituency and demanded stern action against those responsible. The party also complained to the poll panel against alleged misuse of Income Tax authorities to intimidate and malign Congress candidates.In the wee hours of Wednesday, the EC had filed an FIR after 9,746 voter ID cards were found in a flat in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency, along with around 100,000 (1 lakh) counterfoils resembling acknowledgement slips used for addition of names into electoral rolls. 9) BJP moves EC, seeks countermanding of Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency poll: Accusing the Congress of trying to influence the Assembly polls in Karnataka, the BJP on Wednesday moved the EC to countermand the election in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency over the voter ID cards found there in a flat.A BJP delegation, which included Union ministers J P Nadda, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Smriti Irani, S S Ahluwalia, Dharmendra Pradhan, and party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, told the Commission that scrapping the poll in the constituency was necessary to "reinstate people's faith" in the electoral process, Irani told reporters. 10) EC sends senior official to Karnataka over voter ID row: The Election Commission on Wednesday sent a deputy election commissioner as a 'special observer' to Karnataka after the recovery of "fake" voter ID cards in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar. Deputy EC Chandrabhushan Kumar was sent to the state and will submit a report to the poll panel at the earliest, the Commission officials told news agencies.Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar told a press conference in Karnataka that until Wednesday, two persons had been arrested in the matter. More arrests are likely and the case is already under investigation.
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