PM Modi to address public meeting in Shivamogga on Monday

Bengaluru, Mar 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will address a public meeting at Shivamogga, the home turf of former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

This will be his second such meeting in Karnataka since the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates. The first was on Saturday at Kalaburagi, the home turf of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

BJP is expecting a huge turnout at the Allama Prabhu ground (Freedom Park) for the meet in the home district of Yediyurappa, who is a member of the party’s all important Parliamentary board.

Yediyurappa’s elder son B Y Raghavendra is the BJP candidate for the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, where former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa has announced he will contest as an independent candidate as he is upset over the denial of ticket to his son K E Kantesh to contest from Haveri LS constituency.

Eshwarappa has even announced that he will skip Modi’s public meeting. The disgruntled leader had earlier stated that the Prime Minister “resides in his heart”.

BJP state chief B Y Vijayendra, who is Yediyurappa’s second son and Shikaripura MLA, visited Allama Prabhu ground along with senior party functionaries to supervise the preparations and gave necessary directions to ensure that the meeting goes smoothly.

The saffron party is aiming to better its 2019 performance, where it won 25 of the 28 seats, in 2024 as well.

In 2019, Congress and JD(S) had won one seat each, while a BJP-backed independent Sumalatha Ambareesh had clinched one. Party leaders have expressed confidence that the BJP would win all 28 seats in Karnataka this time.