Sonia, Rahul Gandhi’s presence gives boost to Congress in Karnataka: Jagadish Shettar

Hubballi (Karnataka) [India], May 7 (ANI): Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Jagadish Shettar on Sunday said the party got a boost with the campaigning of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the upcoming state assembly elections.

“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,” Shettar said.Shettar joined the Congress a day after quitting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after being denied a ticket for the May 10 assembly polls in the state.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi started campaigning for the party ahead of Karnataka assembly polls on Sunday.

Addressing an election rally in Hubballi district on Saturday, Sonia Gandhi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was perturbed by the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra as it was carried out against ‘those spreading hatred.’

Sonia Gandhi said that Bharat Jodo Yatra was done against those people who are spreading hatred in the country and the BJP got perturbed by it.

“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 said.

Sonia Gandhi has not campaigned in any state elections in the recent past.

The former Congress president did the last election rally in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli.

She gave a speech at the Bharat Bachao rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on December 14, 2019.

Karnataka has a long connection with the Nehru-Gandhi family and has been a “comeback territory” in the past.

Indira Gandhi made a political comeback from Chikmagalur in Karnataka in a bypoll in 1978. Sonia Gandhi also fought from Ballari in the state in her debut election in which she was also in the fray from Amethi.

Karnataka is crucial for Congress as it can mark its revival for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. If BJP is defeated in Karnataka, the party will not be in power in any southern state.

With Rahul Gandhi having been disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a criminal defamation case and the election debacles Congress faced in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress is pinning strong hopes on Karnataka where it has strong state leadership.

The party feels that a win in Karnataka will give it a massive boost to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the 2024 general elections and emerge as a fulcrum of opposition unity.

Rahul Gandhi has so far held 17 rallies and roadshows in Karnataka, while his sister Priyanka Gandhi has done 19 rallies.

Karnataka will go to Assembly polls on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.