Fearing BJP may advance poll, Karnataka Cong gets battle ready

NEW DELHI: Even as Congress struggles electorally, Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to Karnataka this week suggests that the party believes the ruling BJP may advance the elections to catch the opposition off guard and tap into the polarizing atmosphere in the wake of the hijab and other controversies.

Karnataka is scheduled to go to the polls in mid-2023, but a section of Congress leadership suspects that BJP may be looking at clubbing the state polls with Gujarat and Himachal towards the end of 2022. The view stems from the fact that BJP has faced electoral reverses in the southern state, and even a change of guard by replacing

CM BS Yeddyurappa

with Basavaraj Bommai has not settled the flux.

The ostensible reason for Rahul’s visit on Thursday is the digital membership drive of Congress. He will also visit a prominent Lingayat Mutt on the occasion of the birth anniversary of its top seer.

While his visit will put the state leadership in campaign mode, already a top priority for the AICC, the visit to the mutt would also aim to soften the controversy that erupted after the recent statement of former CM Siddaramaiah on the issue of hijab, which triggered a reaction from religious leaders.

But besides these concerns, prominent Congress quarters believe that BJP may want to go for early polls. After repeated electoral losses, the hijab controversy and the atmosphere created by BJP’s recent wins is seen to have created a positive mood, that Congress leaders believe the ruling party may want to exploit.

If that happens, Congress does not want to be left stranded. As a result, the state leadership has upped its campaign activities in recent weeks.