PM Modi to kickstart BJP LS poll campaign from Cong President Kharge's home turf in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the BJP's Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka by addressing a public meeting in Kalaburagi on March 16, the party's state general secretary V Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday.
Kalaburagi is the home district of AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from there in 2009 and 2014 but lost to BJP's Umesh Jadhav in the last general elections.
The Congress is likely to field the 81-year-old Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani this time, according to party sources.
Modi will also address a public gathering in Shivamogga on March 18, Sunil Kumar told reporters at the BJP state headquarters here. "The public meeting will be held at NV Playground on March 16 at Kalaburagi. The event in Shivamogga will take place at Allamaprabhu Ground on March 18."
Karnataka is the most important State for the BJP in south India as it's only here that it had held power in the past.
The BJP swept the previous Lok Sabha elections bagging 25 seats out of the total 28 in the State, while an independent backed by the party also won.
The Congress and the JD(S) headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who were running a coalition government back then and fought the elections together, came a cropper winning a seat each.
But the political landscape has changed significantly since then. The Congress scored a landslide victory in the May Assembly polls, winning 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly. The BJP and JD(S) slumped to 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
The JD(S) joined the BJP-led NDA last September and the two parties are fighting the elections together.
Sunil Kumar said BJP president J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with other national leaders will visit different Lok Sabha constituencies and address public gatherings in the coming weeks.
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Delhi records high of 32.7 deg C; AQI remains 'moderate'
New Delhi (PTI): The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 32.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 1.3 notches below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 20.1 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 1.3 notches below the average for the season, while the relative humidity stood at 46 per cent at 5.30 pm, the IMD said.
The weather department has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Monday with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to hover around 34 and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The air quality remained 'moderate' at 4 pm, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 134, a slight drop from Saturday’s 137, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
