Bangalore:
Before the Karnataka assembly elections, BJP and Congress have stepped up preparations. Both the parties are busy holding conferences to garner support ahead of next year’s assembly elections. More than 1 lakh people participated in a huge convention of castes and tribes in the event organized in Chitradurga district. The one-day convention has been attended by senior party leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Randeep Surjewala, DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah.
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From the Congress side, the conferences are being organized by the BBC and the response to the rallies has come. On 5 and 6 January, BJP chief JP Nadda made an effort to reach out to mutts of various faiths and he tried to bring them to the caste convention, albeit minor, of the traditional vote bank of the Congress.
Nadda has started a two-day tour of Tumakuru, Chitradurga and Davangere. The intervention party in the state has also attached quota for region and tribe. He is now trying to regain his base. Stuck that the SC/ST population in Karnataka is 16% and 6.9%, who mostly supported the Congress in the last election.
Last week, the BJP held a massive attachment rally in Bellary. And in December last year too, a rally was organized for OBCs in Kalaburagi. Preparations are on to hold a third rally for the same caste in Mysuru next month.
It is alleged that recently, the BJP government in Karnataka has increased the minority quota for scenes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent. Whereas, the details have been increased from 3 percent to 7 percent to wrap up. The arrears in the quota have pushed the Satya quantum in the state above the 50 per cent limit estimated by the Supreme Court. The total percentage of coverage in Karnataka is now 56 per cent.
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