Chandrababu Naidu shows up with Rahul to help fight BJP in Raichur

Raichur: Sanna Basava (35), an agriculture labourer from Manvi, an Assembly segment in Raichur Lok Sabha constituency, claims to have attended four rallies of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in the recent years. Regardless of what Gandhi speaks in Hindi, he is happy to listen to former chief minister Siddaramaiah.

“They both speak in the same language,” he says as he gets ready to listen to Gandhi in Raichur, where he addressed a campaign rally on Friday in the presence of other senior Congress leaders.

Raichur falls in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, and mostly voted for a Congress member. Ten years ago, BJP’s Sanna Pakirappa won for the first time, but could not retain the seat in 2014 despite giving a tough fight to the Congress, and losing by just 1,499 votes. Incumbent BV Nayak is seeking reelection.

With just three days left for Karnataka’s remaining 14 constituencies to face the polls, the Congress and JD(S) addressed a joint campaign rally at the epicentre of Hyderabad-Karnataka. Gandhi, who probably strategically skipped coastal Karnataka, visited the Hyderabad-Karnataka region twice this election season. The party may see enough scope to deepen its footprint here, as out of the five seats in the region, the Congress holds three, and the BJP two. Of the eight assembly segments in Raichur Lok Sabha constituency, the Cong-JD(S) combine and the BJP share four seats each.

Raichur is a seat for the ST community, and the BJP has been making inroads into the Congress vote bank by influencing sections of SC/ST voters. The BJP has the advantage of having large chunks of sympathisers among voters belonging to the Lingayat community, also the largest in Karnataka. And that makes the Congress’s task all the more challenging. However, the party is not alone this time: it enjoys the backing of the JD(S), but it is to be seen if the tie-up will bring any extra votes to the Congress as the JD(S), a party associated with Vokkaligas, is not strong in this region.

BJP has fielded Raja Amaresh Nayak who switched from the Congress before the election. A close fight seems possible this time too. It is with a view to win with an impressive margin that the Congress put up a big show on Friday, where JD(S) national president HD Deve Gowda and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu also participated. The seat borders Andhra Pradesh and large number of people here can speak Telugu. The Congress hopes Naidu can swing some votes in its favour.

Gandhi began his speech with the promise of giving poor families Rs 72,000 a year if voted to power, amid loud cheers. But a few voters said that they supported the Congress for its welfare schemes like free distribution of PDS grains and subsidized food at Indira Canteen. “We are here for the Congress and the love for Siddaramaiah,” said Hussain Saab from Devadurga. Siddaramaiah who was the star speaker at the rally in his address, however, meticulously took a dig at the BJP for not fielding even a single OBC and minority candidate in Karnataka.

“While the Congress has given tickets to five candidates from the OBC and Muslim community, the JD(S) has given them three seats. I want to know why the BJP did not field even a single Kuruba member,” Siddaramaiah, a member of the community himself, asked.