Karnataka elections 2023: High voltage weekend campaigning in Bengaluru

The weekend will see high-voltage campaigns in and around Bengaluru with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a mega roadshow and top Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi holding a joint meeting in Shivaji Nagar.

While Modi will hit the streets with a 36.6 km road show on Saturday, the Gandhi siblings will address a gathering in Shivaji Nagar, which gets the name after the legendary Maratha king Shivaji who spent his time in Karnataka town, to galvanise the party workers ahead of the May 10 voting.

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The Prime Minister's 'Namma Karnataka' roadshow will pass through 17 Assembly constituencies in two phases on Saturday with the BJP hoping that the Modi Brand would help them in outshining the Congress in the elections. While the campaigning ends on May 8, the counting of votes is on May 13.

Bengaluru region has 28 Assembly constituencies. BJP has 15 MLAs while Congress has 12 and JD(S) one.

Sources said Congress is also planning more campaigns across the state in the four days with Rahul, Priyanka and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge set to tour all regions.

So far, Congress has unleashed an aggressive campaign by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi by organising 43 public rallies, 13 road shows, six interactions with women and youth as well as five meetings with workers.

Sources said Priyanka will have seven public meetings, including one with Rahul, and four road shows on the last two days of campaigning. She will be holding campaign rallies in Moodabidri and Mahadevpura as well as Shivaji Nagar and a road show cum public meeting in Bengaluru South on Sunday.

On the last day of campaigning on Monday, sources said, she will have two roadshows in Chickpet and Vijayanagar.