Congress will win thumping majority in Karnataka, says Mallikarjun Kharge after voting
Kalaburagi (PTI): After casting his vote here on Tuesday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the grand old party will register a thumping majority in Karnataka and that there "was no doubt" about it.
The second phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka is underway in 14 constituencies. The 81-year-old Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was accompanied by his wife Radhabai Kharge to a polling booth at Basavanagara here.
While speaking to reporters here, he said, "Things are good, good reports are coming from everywhere. Alliance partners (INDI Alliance) are getting strength in this third phase (nationally). Definitely in this phase too we will get good support from the people," he added.
Kharge said that he has been voting from Basavanagara in Kalaburagi since he became eligible for voting at the age of 21 (It is now 18).
"I never got it (polling locality) changed. When I became Minister, when I became opposition leader, KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) President, opposition leader in Parliament, I have never forgotten Basavanagara," he said.
"People here have given me love and affection, they really developed my leadership. I'm grateful to the poor people, who stood with me. I'm with them," he added.
Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is the Congress candidate from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha segment, which the Congress veteran represented twice (2009, 2014), but lost in 2019.
The fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies where elections are underway on Tuesday are: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga.
The state has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in the other 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26.
VIDEO | Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, his wife Radhabai Kharge cast vote in Kalaburagi, Karnataka.#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024 pic.twitter.com/ev2dZdtAaG
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
