K'taka polls crucial for Cong to dent BJP's prospects in "24

The Karnataka assembly election has never been so important for the Congress party. A victory can reinstate a Congress government in southern India, which the party has been missing since February 2021. A positive result in its favour will also have the potential to dent the Bharatiya Janata Party's prospects in next year's general election.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

With Mallikarjun Kharge, a nine-term MLA of the state and a third-term member of Parliament, as president, the party's key pitch would be the corruption charges against the state BJP leadership and anti-incumbency. "Congress will highlight the corruption of the BJP government," Kharge said. "Our workers are very active at the booth level."

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi was expected to address a rally in Kolar, part of the crucial Bengaluru rural, old Mysuru region that is likely to decide the fate of this election. However, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar confirmed that the public meeting has been postponed and may take place on April 16. Kolar has a greater significance; Gandhi's speech here in 2019 led to his conviction in a criminal defamation case, resulting in his disqualification from Parliament.

Although the anti-incumbency of the Basavaraj Bommai administration is a key rallying point, Congress faces multiple hurdles in its quest for power in Karnataka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and the BJP's traditional hold on the votes of the Lingayat community make the BJP no easy pushover.