BENGALURU: The opposition Congress is making all-out efforts to win the October 30 bypolls in Sindagi and Hanagal, with senior leaders, including state Congress president DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah, hitting the campaign trail from Saturday. AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala will also join the campaign.
State Congress Working President Saleem Ahmed, who is in charge of the bypoll campaign in Hanagal, said Surjewala will be in Sindagi on Tuesday and in Hanagal on Wednesday. On Saturday, Siddaramaiah will campaign in Hanagal, while Shivakumar will be in Sindagi. For the next few days, Shivakumar will focus fully on the two Assembly segments.
Saleem, who is camping in Hanagal for the past week, said Congress candidate Srinivas Mane will win the seat with a big margin. Senior leaders will campaign in both constituencies till October 27, he said. “People are disillusioned with the BJP government and want a change, as fuel prices have increased drastically and the government failed to handle the Covid situation. Failures of the state and central governments are major issues in this election,” the Congress leader said.
Sources in the Congress said the party hopes to gain an advantage with differences cropping up among local leaders, as BJP MP Shivakumar Udasi’s wife was not given the ticket. However, CM Basavaraj Bommai has taken the bypolls seriously, his first major election under his watch as CM.