BENGALURU:While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continues to play the “Kannada pride” card in poll-bound Karnataka, the Congress has brought in leaders from Maharashtra to woo Marathi-speaking voters in the Mumbai-Karnataka region. Former Maharashtra Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde feature in the Congress’ list of star campaigners ahead of the assembly election.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Chavan said while linguistic and border differences are important issues, they should be kept aside for now. “The sole purpose now should be to defeat the BJP at the Centre and the State,” Chavan said.Chavan, who has been touring Belagavi, is campaigning primarily for his niece Anjali Nimbalkar, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Khanapur and KPCC women’s wing chief Laxmi Hebbalkar from Belagavi Rural.
“Issues of Marathi-speaking people in border regions are long-pending which have to be amicably solved. Sentiments of Kannada speakers as well as Marathi speakers have to be respected,” Chavan said, denying that the Kannada pride agenda being bolstered by none other than Siddaramaiah will dent Congress’ perspective in the linguistically sensitive areas of Belagavi.
The Congress won 31 seats in the Mumbai-Karnataka region in 2013 with a vote share of 37.98%. Despite a vote share of 27.43%, the BJP managed to win just 13 seats — the vote share makes the contest in the region a close one for both parties. For the Congress, it was a jump from its tally of 12 in 2008 election and the BJP is now hoping for a reversal of luck in the Lingayat and Maratha strong region. Drawing a parallel to Siddaramaiah government’s decision to accord minority religious status to Lingayats in the state Chavan said, “There is no harm in having a similar arrangement for Lingayats in Maharashtra too.”