BENGALURU: On Friday, BJP National Youth President Tejasvi Surya, who is contesting from Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, was in Coimbatore, seeking votes for party candidate and BJP Tamil Nadu state president K Annamalai.
Tejasvi interacted with morning walkers along Race Course Road there, engaging with first-time voters and senior citizens. Surya is one among the star campaigners for Tamil Nadu. Former national general secretary CT Ravi is also a star campaigner for Tamil Nadu.
Ravi told The New Indian Express that he was in Coimbatore and Nilgiri Lok Sabha constituencies to campaign. On Sunday morning, he will be in Krishnagiri. “All these constituencies have a large number of Kannadigas, so we campaigned there,” he said.
Congress leaders from Karnataka will also be going to other states to campaign. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar will be going to Uttar Pradesh after the May 7 polls in Karnataka. While Siddaramiah is a star campaigner for Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, Shivakumar will be the star for West Bengal, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
While Energy Minister KJ George is also headed to Arunachal Pradesh, former chief whip in the Upper House Ivan D’Souza is the star campaigner for Nagaland.
Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader from Karnataka Jairam Ramesh is among the stars for Tripura and Sikkim. Indian Youth Congress national president BV Srinivas, who is from Karnataka, will be campaigning in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and other states. AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, also from Karnataka, is the top star campaigner for Congress in all states.
Suresh Kumar in Coimbatore too
Senior BJP leader Suresh Kumar was in Coimbatore to campaign for Annamalai. “I was upset when Annamalai resigned from the IPS. But I am amused to see his achievement in such a short period. To show my appreciation, I went there to campaign,” he said. “Also, during the assembly polls last year, Annamalai had come to Rajajinagar to campaign for me. My visit to Coimbatore is to convey my thanks.” Suresh Kumar met some goldsmiths there who trace their ancestry to Karnataka, to the village of Honganuru near Channapattana. “There are about 2,000 families residing there. They all speak Kannada. I interacted with them, to seek votes for Annamalai,” he said.