BENGALURU: BJP’s Jana Sankalp Yatra and JDS’ Pancharatna campaign ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls could disturb the voter base of Congress in the old Mysuru region. BJP is trying to dent Congress by wooing its leaders, while JDS has been consolidating its own voter base in the region which was evident from the big response its yatra received. If BJP fields new entrant Indavalu Sachidananda, who is a supporter of Mandya MP Sumalatha, from Srirangapatna, it is likely to affect the prospects of Congress.
In Kunigal of Tumakuru district, former Congress MP SP Muddahanume Gowda, who joined the saffron party recently, could scuttle chances of Congress MLA Dr Ranganath and this may help the JDS candidate, political pundits said.
In Koratagere, which is held by senior Congress leader Dr G Parameshwara, both BJP and JDS have conducted successful rallies, indicating good tradction among people, especially for BJP. “If JDS betters its tally in the old Mysuru region, its traditional bastion, it will indirectly help BJP improve its vote share,” a Congress leader observed, adding that BJP is putting all efforts to make use of former CM BS Yediyurappa’s image.
By the time Congress starts its yatras by mid-January 2023, BJP and JDS would be halfway through. “JDS announced its first list of 93 candidates recently and senior leader HD Kumaraswamy has been campaigning hard. He has skipped the Belagavi session too. He will concentrate on North Karnataka from January,” said a JDS leader.