Battle lines drawn: Congress, BJP set for Karnataka face-off

Updated: Tuesday, March 27, 2018, 15:05 [IST]

The battle lines in Karnataka are drawn. Both the BJP and Congress have set up an elaborate plan ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections 2018 scheduled to be held in April-May.

Battle lines drawn: Congress, BJP set for Karnataka face-off

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would set the tone for the BJP campaign on Sunday when he addresses the valedictory of the Parivartana Yatra. Rahul Gandhi on the other hand would kickstart the Congress campaign when he visits the state on February 10 on a three-day tour.

Both the Congress and BJP have announced their chief ministerial candidates. In the Congress the practice normally is to keep everyone guessing. However this time around, the party has announced that Siddaramaiah would be the CM candidate and in doing so has put the emphasis on him to retain the state of Karnataka.

The Congress leadership has decided to micro-manage the campaign. It has divided the state into the Bangalore, Mysore, Bombay-Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions. Rahul Gandhi during his visit would campaign in each of these zones. In addition to this the Congress says that it would have customised manifestos for each zone.

Karnataka Assembly Election dates
Date of notification	April 17
Last date to file nominations	April 24
Last date to withdraw nominations	April 27
Date of polling	May 12
Date of counting	May 15