BENGALURU: With BJP going all out to organise weavers ahead of Assembly elections, Congress mocked the effort on social media. Congress national general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday tweeted, “Promised to institute ‘Devaradasimayya Nidhi’ and earmarking Rs 1,000 crore towards the welfare of the weavers. Weavers asking you #NimHatraIdyaUttara #SayCM.”
Former MLC MD Lakshminarayan, who made a ‘ghar wapsi’ to BJP, has started organising weavers, and has held conventions at Kollegal and Tumakuru. In Kollegal, it may help incumbent MLA N Mahesh and in Tumakuru, JDS hopeful N Govindaraju.
In the 2018 assembly polls, out of 58 seats where the weaver vote is a big factor, the Congress won 30 constituencies, BJP 23, JDS 4 and BSP 1. Belagavi South and Terdal, that have over 50,000 weaver votes, were won by the BJP, whereas Jamkhandi and Badami, where there are over 20,000 voters, were won by the Congress.
In 2023, BJP is looking to grab more seats, while Congress is set to counter it.Lakshminarayan, president of the weaver community federation, told TNIE that he will meet Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai
next week and press for the same.