This will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seventh visit to Karnataka ahead of the Assembly elections due by May
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the closing ceremony of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra in Davangere in poll-bound Karnataka on March 25, people familiar with the matter said. This will be his seventh visit to the state ahead of the Assembly elections due by May.
Modi will address a mega public rally in Davangere to mark the culmination of all four BJP Vijaya Sankalpa Rath Yatras that would have covered 8,000 km.
On March 1, the ruling party kicked off four Vijaya Sankalpa Yatras across the southern state. The four yatras were launched from four different areas – Chamarajanagar, Bidar, Belagavi, and Bengaluru. The rally covered all 224 constituencies of the state.
Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh are also expected to attend the ceremony. BJP leaders have expressed confidence that about 10 lakh people from the state are expected to attend the event.
During his visit, Modi is expected to launch various projects in Davangere, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru. He is also expected to hold a mega roadshow in the state Capital, Bengaluru.
The Prime Minister will arrive in Chikkaballapur on Saturday, where he will inaugurate the Sadguru Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, which has been constructed at a cost of around ₹450 crore in Muddenahalli village of Chikkaballapur taluk. Shah had laid the foundation stone for the construction of the medical college in April last year.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, a state-level programme will be held to distribute 1.5 crore cards, along with the inauguration of a medical college and distribution of land rights to 22,000 families.
Questioning the frequent visits of Modi and Shah to the poll-bound state, leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council B K Hariprasad, said, “We know how to run a state and we will run our state. Where was PM Modi, and Amit Shah when there was Covid? They never came to Karnataka. Only during elections, they come to hunt for votes.”
Meanwhile, BJP president J P Nadda, addressing a public meeting of Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra in Chikkanayakahalli on Saturday, said that while his party led by PM Modi was focusing on all round and inclusive development of the country, the Congress was still busy promoting dynastic politics with “repackaging after repackaging” of its leader Rahul Gandhi.
Nadda said that Gandhi, unable to win elections, is alleging that democracy in India was under threat, on a foreign land. “Before 2014 India was mired in corruption. There were scams like 2G, 3G, Commonwealth among others, but today the country is among the leading nations of the world,” Nadda said.
Accusing the previous Siddaramaiah-led Congress government of rampant corruption, Nadda said today under BJP new stories of progress and development are being written, with the state emerging as top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) and having a leading position in innovations and startups. He also urged the people to support the BJP in the upcoming elections.
Union minister and BJP’s election in-charge of Karnataka, Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday that the culmination of the Vijaya Sankalpa Yatras in Davangere will rewrite records of turnout at political rallies.