BENGALURU: Along with the rising mercury this summer, the political heat, too, in the state is going north ahead of the April 9 bypolls to Davanagere South and Bagalkot Assembly constituencies.
While the Ruling Congress is banking on its five guarantee schemes to retain the seats, the Opposition BJP is targeting the Grand Old Party, accusing it of emptying the state’s exchequer by borrowing.
“This government has pushed the state into a debt trap. People do not believe your (Congress) futile attempt to blame the Centre. Your (State Government) government, which has failed to submit proper reports to get its GST share and grants, is pointing fingers at the Centre to cover up its flawed decisions.The total amount of debt you have incurred has crossed the Rs 8.14 lakh crore mark. In the financial year 2025-26, you have paid Rs 48,000 crore in interest. The amount of debt keeps rising. But development is zero. Isn’t this economic bankruptcy?” questioned state BJP president BY Vijayendra.
LoP in Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said that the people of the state are fed up with the Siddaramaiah government owing to a lack of development. “I was in Bagalkot for campaigning. People there are cursing the government as no development work has been implemented.The Congress is seeking votes using the guarantees.The CM, out of fear of losing the bypoll, has frightened the voters, saying that the freebies will be stopped if his party loses,” Narayanaswamy told reporters in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The government had remitted two months of the ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ amount only to those beneficiaries in the two poll-bound constituencies and is about to release it in advance for another month, he alleged.
BJP’s Bagalkot candidate Veeranna Charantimath took a dig at the CM for camping in the town for five days, ignoring the administration.
Meanwhile, Hindutva firebrand and expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha are campaigning by pushing the Hindutva agenda, and this has given a shot in the arm for Charantimath, observed a political analyst. Simha also said that Siddaramaiah was not giving the freebies from his own pocket.
The BJP is also likely to ride on the issue of the state Waqf Board serving notices to 650 Hindu farmers in Gokak recently, asking them to prove their ownership of the lands in their possession.
As the prestige of Siddaramaiah is at stake to retain the seat, which was held by another Kuruba leader, H Y Meti, his close confidant and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, has chalked out a “micro-management” to win the seat. He has wooed a few leaders, including Charantimath’s younger brother Mallikarjun and other local BJP leaders, to get their tacit support, sources said.
“Congress candidate Umesh Meti, son of HY Meti, has been projected as a man of humility against Charantimath’s aggressive outlook,” a Congress leader said.In contrast, the BJP in Davanagere has been projecting its candidate Srinivas T Dasakariyappa as a grassroots leader, while claiming that Congress’ Samarth Shamanur, son of horticulture minster SS Mallikarjun and MP Prabha Mallikarjun, is an elite and not accessible to the voters. Kuruba leader and educationist of Insight IAS academy Vinay Kumar GB, who was denied the Congress ticket in the 2024 LS polls from Davanagere, has joined BJP to woo the youth.
It has also been alleged by a few from within the Congress that the party has betrayed the Muslims by not fielding a member of that community. The BJP hopes that the Muslim community’s votes will be split among the independent candidates from the community.
Siddaramaiah, hitting back at the BJP’s allegation of Congress promoting dynasty politics, highlighted the family politics of former CM BS Yediyurappa and former PM H D Deve Gowda.