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BJP, Congress, JD(S) gear up for upcoming assembly polls
BJP’s decision to collectively go in for a tour potentially undercuts former chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s plans to undertake a statewide yatra to mobilise support for the party ahead of the 2023 assembly election.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said it will hold the ‘Janaswarajya Yatra’ ahead of the election for the upper house of the state legislature under four teams who would tour around seven districts each to mobilise support in the grass roots.
The decision to collectively go in for a tour potentially undercuts former chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s plans to undertake a statewide yatra to mobilise support for the party ahead of the 2023 assembly election.
“On the backdrop of the Vidhana Parishad elections on November 19, there will be a Janaswaraj conclave,” Ravi Kumar, BJP state general secretary and MLC said in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The statements come at a time when Yediyurappa has put off his state-wide tour missing his own deadlines as the party, people aware of the developments said, was to contain the 78-year-old from continuing to wield his influence over the party and people in the wake of the national leadership’s plan to infuse newer leadership with its core ideology.
The BJP also said it was expecting more leaders from other parties into its fold with polls for various bodies around the corner.
Kumar said CS Manohar of the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) has expressed his interest to join the BJP and has asked to be the candidate for the upcoming elections for the upper house of the state legislature, expected to be held in December or January.
The BJP is looking to gain control over the upper house as it plans to introduce more bills, considered contentious, and be passed without too many hurdles.
The BJP has 32 members in the upper house while the Congress has 29 and the JD(S) has 12.There is one Independent and one member who serves as the chairman.
The Congress too is taking no chances and has announced to initiate its membership drive from Bengaluru on November 14.
DK Shivakumar, the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Sunday, said the party will begin its membership drive and initiate other activities to bring in more people into the fold.
Shivakumar said there will be forms available both online and offline. “All our state leaders have decided to start the membership drive from Bengaluru city on November 14,” Shivakumar said.
He said those who have been serving the party will also have to renew their memberships. New members have to pay a fee of ₹5 and to become active members they would have to pay ₹100, he added.
He said the Congress would start its ‘Janajagruthi Abhiyaan’ to raise awareness among people about the misdeeds and hardships under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the centre and Bommai-led administration in the state.
He said all leaders would go to each and every grama panchayati and assembly constituency to raise awareness on the hardships like price rise, fuel price hikes and other problems heaped on the population by the BJP government at the centre and state.
