The ruling party has fielded senior minister V Somanna from Varuna in the hope of getting the 40% Lingayat vote that will be the key if it has to win Congress citadel for the first time.
Congress has been keen on sticking to its '40 per cent commission sarkara' line of attack against Bommai government, focusing on its poll guarantees for people
BJP fields wife of Aravind Limbavali, who has been MLA for 15 yrs; Cong goes with H Nagesh, who won as Independent from another seat in 2018, has been between parties since
BJP won 28-odd of them in 2018, Cong 23, several with slender margins; observers deployed seat-wise to sort out issues, ensure “guarantees” trickle down; Gandhis to campaign extensively
At a virtual meeting with Karnataka BJP workers, PM hits out at politics of freebies, saying BJP provides some freebies on a temporary basis when situation warrants it