Sonia Gandhi will campaign in Karnataka on Saturday
New Delhi (IANS) | Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has so far stayed away from campaigning in Karnataka due to health reasons, will address a public meeting in Hubli on Saturday. This will be his first public meeting in the poll-bound state.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are campaigning aggressively in the southern state, which will vote on May 10. Sonia Gandhi had joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mandya, Karnataka on October 6 last year and was walking with Rahul Gandhi.
She is staying away from public events these days due to health reasons. The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on March 2 this year following fever. He had got Kovid-19 in June last year.
Earlier, BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal targeted Sonia Gandhi. He called the Congress leader a poison girl and an agent of Pakistan and China. The Congress had condemned the BJP leader’s remarks.
Elections to the 224-member assembly in Karnataka are scheduled for May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. The ruling BJP is facing a tough fight from the Congress, which has sidelined the saffron party on several issues including corruption.
The Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto and promised to repeal all unjust laws and other anti-people laws passed by the BJP government in the state within a year of coming to power. The Congress has launched Griha Jyoti (200 units of free electricity); Griha Lakshmi – Rs 2,000 per month to each female head of the household; and Anna Bhagya – each person from a BPL family has been promised 10 kg of food grains of their choice (among rice, ragi, jowar, bajra).
It also promised to take strong and decisive action against individuals and organizations promoting hatred between communities on the basis of caste or religion. It said that if any organization like Bajrang Dal and PFI tried to spread hatred, it would ban them.