Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) scion HD Kumaraswamy is set to campaign in the state capital during the final days leading up to the state assembly elections.
Although the party is yet to release his campaign dates, this will be the CM-hopeful’s second visit to the city for canvassing votes. During his first campaign, he had visited five constituencies.
Speaking to TNM, Naveen, who heads JD(S) IT Cell, says, “We have a good chance of winning in Mahalakshmi Layout, Dasarahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Padmanabhanagar and Chamrajpet. As of now, we expect to win seven to eight seats in Bengaluru Urban. But Kumaranna is planning for 12.”
According to Naveen, the party expects to perform well in most parts of South Karnataka.
“In Mandya and Hassan, we will win all seven seats. We are expecting more from Mysuru and Tumkur. In Mysuru, I believe we might get seven or eight seats out of 11. In Tumkur, we are expecting around eight. In Kolar and Chikballapur we are expecting six. In Ramanagara, Magadi, and rural Bengaluru, we expect to win 3 seats each,” he says.
As for the remainder of his campaign in Bengaluru, Kumaraswamy is expected to address the issue of corruption. He is expected to speak about the government’s recent white-topping endeavour, a project that was put on hold in December last year after it began to disrupt traffic, and the planned skywalk project in the city’s Majestic area, which could also affect traffic movement.
He might also speak on a monorail project he plans to start that will serve as an addition to the existing metro system.
Several party members have recently left the JD(S) to join the BJP and the Congress. But this does not appear to be a major concern for the party as some members from the two national parties are also allegedly supporting the JD(S). The party is reportedly hoping to win more than 60 seats in this election.