- Tuesday, January 14, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Controversy is never far away whenever elections are at doorsteps in India, be it national or provincial. On Wednesday (29), the country’s election commission announced the date for the elections in Karnataka, the only state in southern India where the nationally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi is in power.
While the BJP has a stake in retaining power in the state, the Indian National Congress, which is fighting an existential crisis, also eyes a return to power, making the Karnataka electoral battle a tough and interesting one.
#WATCH | Karnataka Congress Chief DK Shivakumar was seen throwing Rs 500 currency notes on the artists near Bevinahalli in Mandya district during the ‘Praja Dhwani Yatra’ organized by Congress in Srirangapatna. (28.03) pic.twitter.com/aF2Lf0pksi
— ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2023
A day before the election body announced the date for the election which is May 10, the chief of the Congress in Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, was seen showering currency notes on crowds during a roadshow in Mandya district of southern Karnataka.
A video went viral in which the 60-year-old leader is seen throwing notes of Rs 500 (£5) denomination from atop a bus in which he was campaigning for his party in Bevinahalli. The ruling BJP slammed the move with Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai saying the Congress thinks the people of Karnataka are beggars. Use of cash and kind to lure voters in India during elections is not uncommon.
Shivakumar, who many see as a probable chief ministerial face for the Congress if it wins this election, is campaigning extensively in Mandya, which is said to be a stronghold of the electorally dominant Vokkaliga community. Shivakumar, who himself belongs to the same community, is trying to strengthen the grand-old party’s base in Mandya, which is said to be a bastion of the Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS, another strong regional player in Karnataka politics.
The Congress has announced 124 candidates in its first list for the 224-member assembly so far.
While the BJP has 121 seats in the outgoing Karnataka assembly, the Congress has 70 and the JDS, 30.
The Congress and the JDS formed a government after the 2018 elections after the BJP fell short of a majority. But following mass resignations from both the Congress and JDS, the BJP came to power with the support of rebel lawmakers, many of whom were subsequently made ministers.
