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Just a few days before the high-stakes Karnataka assembly elections, Bengaluru witnessed a high-effort campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Prime Minister Modi has made huge promotional tours in the state capital on Saturday and Sunday, covering a total distance of more than 30 kilometers, drawing huge crowds.
Rahul campaigned in the city on Sunday and Monday in a way that seemed free while interacting with him different groups of temporary workers, Students and women passengers. He took a billion trip with a delivery agent and took a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus to interact with the passengers.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Modi staged a road show from JP Nagar Stage 7 to Malleswaram, 26 km away. On Sunday, his promotion ran from New Thepassandra Road to Trinity Circle, a 6.5km run. Although his promotions drew huge crowds on both days, there were also some conflicting notes with some Bengaluru residents expressing discontent with the road closures and traffic jams.
While on Saturday, the Intermediate Examination (first group) for Chartered Accountant was scheduled in the city, and the National Entrance Examination for Eligibility (Undergraduate) and Medical Pre-Examination of India were held on Sunday.
The Bengaluru Traffic Police has closed many roads in the southern and central business districts of Bengaluru to facilitate tours. There was also rain on both days which flooded some of the roads.
Rahul got down to business on Sunday, meeting the gig workers and delivery partners of companies like Dunzo, Swiggy, Zomato and Blinkit. Later, he also rode a delivery agent’s motorcycle across town. Along the way, according to Congress, they discussed issues such as “unemployment, rising prices, and working conditions for temporary service personnel.”
On Monday, Rahul stopped for a cup of coffee on Cunningham Road. Interact with a group of college students and working women who were waiting at a nearby BMTC bus stop. Then he hopped on a BMTC bus and spoke with some of the women passengers about their aspirations for Karnataka, according to Congress Camp. Congress also pledged in its election manifesto to ensure free travel for women on state buses in the state.
Some congressional leaders said the women commuters shared their concerns with Rahul about issues such as their daily commute as well as the impact of price hikes on their family budgets.
Later, Rahul gets off at Lingarajapuram and resumes his conversation with another group of women waiting at the bus stop.
“There were no roadblocks, no traffic jam during Rahul Gandhi’s visit to all these places,” said the Congress leader. The party’s state general secretary, P.S. Shivana, said that it was “not a planned event but a spontaneous one”, claiming that the Bharat Gudu Yatra had changed the public perception towards Rahul and his ideas.
Bengaluru has 28 seats in the assembly. Despite its edge, the BJP has been trailing in the city over the last two assembly polls, winning 11, 12 and 17 seats in the 2018, 2013 and 2008 elections respectively compared to the corresponding Congress seats of 15, 13 and 10.
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