Carpet bombing, new candidates: BJP’s strategy to retain power in Karnataka

New Delhi [India], April 1 (ANI): Ahead of the Assembly election in Karnataka, the only southern state where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in government, the saffron party has decided to throw all its efforts into the poll campaign and reach the helm for the second consecutive term.

As per highly placed sources in BJP, party chief JP Nadda has called all national general secretaries of the party to meet in the national capital in the first week of April. The sources said that the BJP has also decided to deploy BJP leaders, from the neighbouring states (Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra), into poll-bound Karnataka.

“Apart from it, a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) is also likely to take place around April 5-6, to finalise the candidates’ list,” a source said.

He said that BJP is also planning carpet bombing in Karnataka. “The names of 40 star campaigners have also been decided for Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa CM Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and several Union ministers like Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman have been included in the list. All have been asked to give two weeks’ time in the poll-bound state,” he added.

The source said that BS Yediyurappa will play a cardinal role as a star campaigner for the party.

In the 224-member Assembly, the NDA has 119 MLAs in Karnataka, but this time 40 per cent of the tickets of existing MLAs will be changed.

The party will contest the polls alone and will not forge a pact with Janata Dal (Secular).

This time also the BJP will fight the entire election with PM Modi’s face and on the development model of the double-engine government.

“We will tell the people of Karnataka that these roads, hospitals, over bridges have been built by the BJP government and the benefits of the central government’s schemes will also be publicised to the people. BJP will tell the people of Karnataka that for development in the state, there should be a double-engine government,” the source said.

“BJP’s biggest star campaigner PM Modi’s election tour will start from April 8 to 10, when he will visit National Park in Mysore,” he added.

The Election Commission of India on March 29, announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly election.

The polling would take place in a single phase on May 10, and the counting of votes will be done on May 13.