BENGALURU: After taking a break for three days, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will again hit the campaign trail with his Nava Karnataka Nirmana Yatra from Ramanagara on Wednesday.
The second phase of the yatra assumes more political significance. In the next 10 days, Siddaramaiah will campaign in JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s pocket borough Hassan and BJP chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa’s home district Shivamogga. In the first phase, CM covered 43 assembly segments in 16 districts in the north, central and parts of south Karnataka in 18 days.
Sources in Congress said in Hassan, Siddaramaiah will focus more on issues related to agriculture sector and his government’s achievements in irrigation and drinking water projects like Yettinahole. Many villages in the district will get water.It will be interesting to see what kind of response Siddaramaiah will get in JD(S) home turf as Deve Gowda---Siddaramaiah’s political mentor-turned foe — will be fighting an electoral battle to save his regional party. After the CM had questioned his contribution to the irrigation sector, Gowda has threatened to ‘expose’ him. JD(S) workers have decided to hold a protest when the CM visits Belur on Thursday.
In Shivamogga, the Congress leader said the CM might highlight cases against Yeddyurappa and differences within the BJP. However, Congress does not appear to be on a strong footing in the BJP bastion that also has a good presence of JD(S). In North Karnataka, from where he started his campaign, Siddaramaiah spoke about Veerashaiva-Lingayat issue and in Mumbai-Karnataka region, he attacked BJP for their failure to convince the PM to intervene in the Mahadayi issue.
While the CM will be taking his yatra to Shivamogga, BJP president Amit Shah will attend rallies organised as part of the party’s Parivartana Yatra’ in Chitradurga on January 9 while a rally in Siddaramaiah’s home district Mysuru is planned on January 25.Though the ‘Nava Karnataka Nirmana Yatra’ is a government programme meant for ceremonies like inauguration for government projects, the CM has been making most of these functions to criticize BJP and JD(S) leaders.