Campaign ends for LS polls in Karnataka

     Bangalore, Apr 15 (PTI) A high-octane campaign for the
single-phase April 17 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, where both
Congress and BJP are betting high in a fierce close contest,
ended this evening.
     Electioneering, at times fired up by vicious rants among
polical leaders, saw intense campaign by both national as well
as state bigwigs, for a sharply bipolar fight, in all the 28
constituencies barring six.
     For BJP, hoping for a turnaround in its fortunes after
its debacle in assembly polls last year, the biggest thrust to
its campaign came from Narendra Modi whose blitzkrieg has
generated the atmospherics it is looking for.
     Congress' offensive was led mostly by Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah, for whom a lot is at stake, as he addressed more
than 75 rallies crisscrosing the state, with party President
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi providing the booster.
    Siddaramaiah is looking at a target of about 20 of the 28
seats as that will act as a counter to any possible attempt
within his party to undermine or destabilise his position.
     He, however, maintains no quota has been set by the party
top brass and it is a mere speculation that he would have to
give up his post if he did not deliver on the 20-seat target.
     Modi addressed 13 rallies in the last four months, 10
after he was declared the prime ministerial candidate, a
blitzkrieg the state unit was looking for as Karnataka is its
biggest hope in the South that could boost its national tally.
     Notably, BJP veterans L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj gave a
miss to the campaign with no convincing explanation from the
state unit which merely said they were preoccupied elsewhere.
     Observers note that Advani was not comfortable with the
re-entry of B S Yeddyurappa into BJP and Swaraj with the
admission of B Sriramulu, a one-time close associate of mining
baron and former minister G Janardhana Reddy.
    The triangular contest involving JD-S, apart from Congress
and BJP, would be mostly in Hassan, Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur,
Bangalore Rural and Chickkaballapur.
    Modi dominated the scene and discourse, with Sonia and
Rahul making him the focal point of their attack, as also
state Congress leaders with a highly-spirited Siddaramaiah
calling him a "narahantaka" (mass murderer).
     After the Election Commission rapped him on his knuckles
for his "narahantaka" remark, Siddaramaiah changed his
description of Modi to "himsavadi" (votary of violence).
    The discourse plumbed the depths when KPCC chief G
Parameshwara taunted the JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda over his
alleged remark in the past that he would consume poison if his
party did not win assembly elections.
    "....I am also waiting that he will take it (poision)
today or tomorrow. He is not taking it," Parameshwara had
said but regretted his controversial remarks a day later.
     Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejrival was on a single lap
of campaign in Bangalore. AAP is aiming big contesting all the
seats in Karnataka.
     In a bitter script to BJP, a section of Kannada writers,
including two Jnanpith awardees, U R Ananthamurthy and Girish
Karnad crossed swords with it over Modi, whom they bitterly
opposed for prime ministership, calling him dictatorial. A
livid BJP hit back calling them Congress "flatterers."
    Star power fired up the election campaign with actresses
Tara, Shruthi, Rakshita and actor Jaggesh campaigning for BJP.
     Congress candidate in Mandya Ramya herself is a leading
actress while her party was supported elsewhere by her
colleagues Bhavya and Jaimala.
     Prominent Telugu "power star" Pawan Kalyan campaigned for
BJP in some parts. Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi held roadshows
for his mother-in-law Nandini Alva, JD-S candidate from
Bangalore central.
    A myriad of national and local issues dominated the
campaign. Apart from the common campaign denominator of price
rise, civic issues relating to Bangalore, drinking water
problem in parts of Karnataka, sugarcane pricing, unfinished
railway projects, encroachment of forest land and the
Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats which involves 11
districts in some way or the other with fears of loss
livelihood and lack of development also figured during the
campaign.
     From traditional door-to-door canvassing and street
corner meetings to resorting to flash mobs- a group of people
who suddenly emerge in a public place and breaks out in dance
or engage in some different activity for entertainment or
satire-- candidates adopted different campaign styles.
     New generation technologies like live streaming and
Google hangout, digital raths equipped with audio and visual
facilities, besides social media like Twitter, Facebook and
blogs were used by candidates to reach out to their voters.
    A total of 435 candidates are in the fray with 4.62 crore
electorate in the state.