Political parties in Karnataka are gearing up to fight one of the fiercest elections that the state has ever faced.
Soon after the dates for the elections were announced, there was an unusual buzz in party offices for tickets. Recommendations, influence, arm twisting and everything possible is being done in Bangalore to get a chance to contest elections.
Congress camp:
Congress leaders told rediff.com that they would start the screening process for tickets from April 6.
Congress chief in Karnataka, Mallikarjuna Kharge, has instructed all District Congress Committees to send in their list of candidates by Saturday, following which the screening process will take place April 6. The final list of candidates will be out on April 10, according to Congress party workers in Bangalore.
Agenda:
The Congress says it would fight the elections on the stability issue.
Congress leaders say they would tell people to vote for them and also remind them of the unstable government that both Janata Dal-Secular and Bharatiya Janata Party had.
Besides this the party is also riding high on the Rahul Gandhi wave and the return of former chief minister S M Krishna to state politics.
BJP camp:
The BJP office too is buzzing with activity. Aspirants in large numbers have already started doing the rounds of the party office in Bangalore.
D Sadananda Gowda, party president in Karnataka, told rediff.com that it would take the party three more days to finalise the list of candidates.
The BJP has planned to finalise the list of candidates in phases. First they would approve the names of those candidates, who they are confident would win the election. Then they would concentrate on the rest of the candidates.
BJP insiders say their sure shot constituencies will be Coastal Karnataka and Bangalore Urban.
Agenda:
The top agenda for the saffron party would be to woo farmers in the state.
Apart from narrating how they were ditched by the JD-S, the BJP would also try and break away from their urban image and concentrate more on rural Karnataka.
The BJP also proposes to use the Hogenakal issue, which has been causing tension between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The BJP claims it had brought the issue to the fore front.
Janata Dal camp:
The JD-S too has been working overtime for the forthcoming elections.
The final list of candidates would be announced on April 8, according to Meerajuddin Patel, the party's state president.
The party has already received 1,800 applications from across the state from aspiring candidates.
The JD-S says tickets will be distributed based on loyalty that the candidates have shown to the party and also their sincerity.
Agenda:
The JD-S would focus more on its image as a regional party.
Both H D Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy have already been telling the voters that it is only the JD-S, which can sort out their problems as they do not need an approval from New Delhi for everything they need to do for the people of the state.
Further the JD-S would also focus on the achievements of Kumaraswamy as chief minister of the state.