BENGALUR: With just 15 days left for the Hanagal and Sindagi Assembly bypolls, a battery of BJP leaders will swoop down on the constituencies -- the ruling party is doing its best to retain Hanagal and win Sindagi.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will join the campaign in Hanagal on Sunday, and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will be the star campaigner in both the seats after October 21. On Friday, Bommai said he will also campaign in Sindagi for two days. A total of 19 candidates are in the fray in Sindagi and Hanagal for the October 30 bypolls.
State BJP General Secretary and MLC N Ravikumar, who is part of the Hanagal campaign team, told TNIE that the ministers will campaign for five days. Yediyurappa will be in the constituency on October 22 and 23, and later, he will go to Sindagi.
Sources in the BJP said with a large number of Lingayat voters in these two constituencies, the party is depending on Yediyurappa, who has put his planned state tour on hold till the bypolls. It is said that Bommai met Yediyurappa on Friday over this issue.
PWD minister CC Patil, camping in Sindagi for the past few days, was seen campaigning on Friday. The BJP has fielded Ramesh Bhusanur in Sindagi and Shivaraj Sajjanar in Hanagal. Recently, Bommai and BJP state president Nalinkumar Kateel discussed poll strategy at the BJP office, which mandates that ministers and MPs will campaign along with local leaders and other MLAs from surrounding constituencies. These are the first major polls after Bommai took oath as CM in July this year.
Former PM and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda and former CM HD Kumaraswamy, besides KPCC President DK Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah will be campaigning in the two constituencies for their party candidates.