As Assembly Elections near, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a grand roadshow as part of BJP’s planned show of strength in Karnataka, which seems to be a rocky battle for the currently ruling saffron party. PM Modi’s visit to Shivamogga and Belagavi today marks an important event as the assembly election clouded by a range of issues is expected to take place later this year.
The Prime Minister’s itinerary comprises the launch of Shivamogga airport and a 10-km roadshow in Belagavi – part of an elaborate outreach plan ahead of the state polls due later this year.
The Belagavi district is a site of high-political significance and it remained a stronghold of the BJP. However, this term owing to the Hijab row and Belgam border dispute. The region has 18 Assembly segments.
While the BJP is campaigning in Karnataka with full fervour, it appears to be on a backfoot this time due to corruption charges and anticipated rebellion from some MLAs who had switched to the BJP from Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress.
The BJP also seems to be in an uncomfortable situation considering the unrest by the Lingayat community, which dominates the Belagavi region. The region accounts for the highest population of Lingayats — an influential community that constitutes 17 per cent of Karnataka’s population.
In the 2018 elections, the BJP won 13 out of the 18 seats in Belagavi. In the Kittur-Karnataka region, the party won nearly 30 seats out of the total 50 – nearly 30 per cent of the BJP’s total tally of 104.
