1. Home
  2. Congress expects Rahul Gandhi's new charm to work in Karnataka polls

Congress expects Rahul Gandhi's new charm to work in Karnataka polls

Agencies
December 21, 2017

Bengaluru, Dec 21: Rahul Gandhi's elevation as party president has brought about a "resurgence" in the Congress, its Karnataka unit today said, expressing the hope that his "charm" will work in the state Assembly polls after Gujarat.

Referring to the Gujarat poll outcome, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President G Parameshwara said he hoped Karnataka, too, would back Gandhi's leadership.

"The change has started from Gujarat," he said.

The BJP won a sixth straight-term in Gujarat, though it registered a fall in the number of seats won. While it bagged 99 seats in the 182-member Assembly, the Congress improved its tally to 77, up by 16 seats.

The KPCC chief also claimed that GST and demonetisation had "dented" the BJP in Gujarat.

"The change has started from Gujarat. Demonetisation and GST have played their roles to dent the BJP in Gujarat. This is one aspect, and the other aspect is the change in the leadership from Sonia Gandhi to Rahul. This has brought about the resurgence of the Congress," Parameshwara told PTI here.

The KPCC chief is setting out on a tour beginning today across 100 Assembly constituencies where the Congress was defeated in the last polls.

Assembly elections are due in Karnataka early next year.

"It is the people's decision. I hope they will back Rahul's leadership in the next Assembly elections in Karnataka, going by Gujarat poll results, where Congress lost by not a huge margin. I hope his charm will continue during Karnataka polls," he said.

The Congress could not form a government in Gujarat, but increased its vote share from 33 per cent to 41.4 per cent, Parameshwara said.

"We should have formed the government, but unfortunately we did not get the numbers in a few districts in Gujarat. Nevertheless, our percentage of vote share has gone up, from 33 per cent to 41.5 per cent. Otherwise, many had written the Congress off," he said.

Parameshwara said he believed Rahul Gandhi could take Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team on in the Karnataka elections.

Replying to a query, he said there would be no "Modi wave" in Karnataka and elections would be fought on state issues.

Asked about the electoral impact of a promise made by the Janata Dal (Secular) that it would install a member of the minority or Dalit community as the state's deputy chief minister, Parameshwara said it was just an election gimmick.

The JDS, he said, didn't stand a chance to win the polls.

"As far as we are concerned, Congress does not make such decisions prior to the elections. Once the party comes to power, the Congress Legislature Party will decide and the High Command would give it a stamp of authority," he added.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 23,2020

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 27,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 27: The Karnataka government on Sunday directed the Director General of Police Praveen Sood to submit a detailed report on the internal security following the United Nations' observation that international terror outfit IS was active in the state.

The UN report stated that Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, which reportedly has between 150 and 200 members from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, was reportedly planning attacks in the region.

It also warned that there were 'significant numbers' of ISIS operatives in Karnataka and Kerala. Reacting to the UN report, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state government has taken a serious note of the report on the activities of IS in the state.

The state government is in touch with the Centre and the neighbouring states to keep a close watch on the activities of suspicious people and their supporters.

"In this context, it has been decided to strengthen the internal security of the state. The Director General of Police has been asked to submit a detailed report," Bommai said in a release.

The state is also keeping a strict vigil on all those entering Bengaluru from other states, the Minister said. He recalled that the state police had arrested several members of Al-Hind organisation in January last and Jamaat- ul-Mujahideen from Bangladesh in 2018 and 2019. He added that the National Investigation Agency is investigating the case of JMB.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 11,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 11: With the outbreak of coronavirus, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday said that over 1,000 people in the state have been identified for observation.

"So far, 1048 people have been identified for observation. Out of which 446 samples have been sent for testing. 389 samples have tested negative. Four samples have tested positive," Chief Minister Yediyurappa told reporters.

Earlier today, Health Minister B Sriramulu said that family members of those who tested positive for COVID-19 have been isolated and their health is being monitored.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.