Modi to launch BJP campaign in state on Feb 10
Bengaluru, Jan 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to launch BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka on February 10 from Hubballi, the state unit of the party said Thursday.
He would also address two more election rallies in February, while BJP president Amit Shah was expected to be in the state on February 14 and 21, state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
The BJP has set a target of winning more than 22 seats out of the total 28 in the state in the upcoming polls as part of the mission to make Modi Prime Minister again.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Lok Sabha poll in-charges of constituencies and party office-bearers, Yeddyurappa said.
He said Shah was likely to visit the state on February 14 and 21 and programme will be decided shortly.
Later, the BJP in a statement said Modi will visit the state on February 10, 19 and 27, and former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka has been made the in-charge of the Prime Ministers rallies.
Yeddyurappa said the target was to win more than 22 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
We have discussed about upcoming Lok Sabha polls. In the Lok Sabha polls this time we will win more than 22 seats and contribute towards making Narendra Modi Prime Minister once again, Yeddyurappa said.
From Thursday, party leaders would travel across the state and strengthen the party, he said.
BJP had won 17 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 polls and emerged as the single largest party with 104 MLAs in the last year assembly elections, but fell short of a majority following which the JDS and Congress came together.
Terming the Lok Sabha polls as important, Yeddyurappa claimed Modis developmental works in the past four-and-half years, growth in the country's economy and the entire world praising him had created panic among opposition parties.
Hence, they were trying to unite.
Hitting out the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, he said, the two parties had been fighting against each other in last seven months and people of the state want to get rid of them.
Recent comments by JD(S) chief Deve Gowda, Chief Ministers open comments about stepping down, over 20 Congress legislators at the CLP meeting seeking withdrawal of support to Chief Minister. All these things people are watching let the media conduct a survey, 70 per cent people want this government to go, he claimed.
Predicting the fall of the coalition government any time because of the infighting, Yeddyurappa said BJP was not responsible for it.
Congress legislators want to snap the relationship with JD(S) and are fighting on streets, so there may be political ups and downs because of this," he said.
Yeddyurappa said JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda's comments against Congress Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah Wednesday showed this coalition government was in a state of confusion.
Alleging that developmental works had come to a standstill, Yeddyurappa accused the coalition government of failure in drought relief measures.
He urged the party workers to start agitations at local level to wake the government "that is in deep slumber.
Unveiling details of campaign programmes from the booth level to constituency level that would include bike rallies, the former chief minister said BJP will take Modi governments achievements to every household.
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ED searches: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah accuses Centre of targeting Cong leaders
Chamarajanagara (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday accused the central government and its agencies of consistently targeting Congress members by using searches on their properties, and questioned why similar action is not taken against BJP leaders.
He was reacting to searches conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday on several individuals, among them the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N A Haris and the grandson of former Union Cabinet minister K Rahman Khan, in connection with a cryptocurrency-linked money laundering case.
"The central government always targets Congress leaders. Will they raid the houses of BJP leaders?" Siddaramaiah said in response to a question. More than a dozen premises in the city were searched as part of the operation carried out by the ED under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The premises searched comprised those of Mohammed Haris Nalapad and Omar Farook Nalapad, the sons of the MLA; Aqeeb Khan, the grandson of veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan; and an alleged crypto hacker, Srikrishna Ramesh, alias Sriki, officials said.
The money laundering case stems from Karnataka Police FIRs and charge sheets filed in a 2017 case involving the hacking of national and international websites, theft of bitcoins, and the sale of these stolen virtual digital assets (VDAs) through crypto platforms by the alleged hacker Sriki and his associates.
Mohammed Haris Nalapad, Omar Farook Nalapad, and Aqeeb Khan are alleged to be beneficiaries of the proceeds of crime generated through this crypto-linked activity, officials added.
