Jagadish Shettar, a former chief minister of Karnataka and a leading member of the Congress, claimed on Sunday that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s campaigning for the impending state assembly elections gave the party a boost., “This time, people’s blessings are with me. More people are coming to support me. So, I will win by a huge margin. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s presence has definitely given us a boost,” stated Shettar. A day after leaving the BJP because he was not given a ticket for the state’s May 10 assembly elections, Shettar switched to the Congress.
Sonia Gandhi, a former president of the Congress, began her party’s campaigning on Sunday, just days before the Karnataka assembly elections. Speaking at an electoral rally in Hubballi district on Saturday, Sonia Gandhi said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which was headed by Rahul Gandhi and was directed against “those spreading hatred,” had alarmed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to Sonia Gandhi, the BJP was alarmed by the Bharat Jodo Yatra since it was organised against individuals who incite hatred in the nation. “Bharat Jodo Yatra was done against people who do only one work which is spreading hatred. Such people can never bring any development in Karnataka. BJP got perturbed by Bharat Jodo Yatra”, Sonia stated.
In the most recent state elections, Sonia Gandhi did not campaign. In her parliamentary district of Rae Bareli, the former president of the Congress held her final campaign rally for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. On December 14, 2019, she spoke at the Bharat Bachao rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. The Nehru-Gandhi family has a lengthy history in Karnataka, which has served as a “comeback territory” in the past. In a byelection held in 1978 in Chikmagalur, Karnataka, Indira Gandhi made a political return. In her first election, Sonia Gandhi ran from Ballari in the state while also running from Amethi.
Karnataka is important for Congress because it could signal a comeback for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP won’t be in power in any southern state if it loses in Karnataka. Congress is placing high hopes in Karnataka, where it has strong state leadership, in light of Rahul Gandhi’s expulsion from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case and the electoral disasters Congress encountered in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party believes that a victory in Karnataka will give it a huge boost to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the general elections in 2024 and emerge as the opposition’s unifying force. While his sister Priyanka Gandhi has participated in 19 rallies, Rahul Gandhi has so far held 17 rallies and roadshows in Karnataka. Karnataka will hold Assembly elections on May 10 and the results will be tallied on May 13.
