Bangalore, March 17, 2013:
Election fever is fast catching up in poll-bound Karnataka, with political parties embarking on exercises to finalise their candidates.
The ruling BJP appears to be on the back-foot after a below-par performance in the recent elections to urban local bodies, where the Congress turned in an impressive show giving
the party a head-start in the Assembly poll, due in around two months.
The Congress also seems to have stolen the march over the BJP and JDS of former Prime Minister of H D Deve Gowda on the issue of short-listing candidates. The Congress central leadership has appointed senior party leader Luizinho Falerio the Chairman of the Screening Committee for the State.
Karnataka is the first big State to go to poll after Rahul Gandhi became Congress Vice-President, party sources pointed out.
BJP is likely to get a new party chief in the State shortly, party sources said. K S Eshwarappa resigned from the post earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a section of state BJP leaders has told the party’s Karnataka’s leadership to make efforts to bring former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and former Minister B Sriramulu, who had formed Karnataka Janatha Party and BSR Congress, respectively, after quitting the party, back into its fold.
Rajya Sabha member and an influential leader of Belgaum, Prabhakar Kore, has confirmed he did make the suggestion.
Yeddyurappa has been strident in criticism against the BJP, and the KJP bagged 274 seats, out of the nearly 5000 in ULB polls, damaging the prospects of the BJP in no small measure at many places, and has repeatedly ruled out returning to his erstwhile party.
The political heavyweight has indicated that he would cobble together a ‘united front’ by roping in farmers’ organisations and pro-Kannada outfits as an alternative to the Congress, BJP and JDS in the coming poll.
All eyes are also on Ministers Basavaraj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani and Umesh Katti, who are reportedly contemplating to join the Yeddyurappa camp, particularly after the BJP’s none-too-impressive show in the ULB polls.
Election Commission interacted with State officials and senior police officers earlier this month on the preparedness to hold the polls. EC is expected to formally announce poll
schedule within the next few days.
Indications are that the election would be held in the first half of May in single phase.
In 2008, the Assembly elections were held in three phases on May 10, May 16 and May 22, with the counting taken up on May 25.
