Will Siddaramaiah’s gamble to take Modi head-on pay off?

The BJP feels that the biggest mistake that Siddaramaiah could have made is taking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi head on during the campaign for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018. It is an interesting gamble by the Chief Minister of Karnataka as he had made it Modi vs him.

The BJP is of the view that this was a crucial error on the part of the Karnataka CM as he had decided to fight the elections against a national leader as opposed to those part of the state.

Is this is gamble which would prove costly? Will it pay of for Siddaramaiah? Dr. Sandeep Shastri, leading political scientist helps OneIndia understand.

"The personalised nature of politics has become quite visible in the state and national elections. Given the fact that the focus of the BJP is Modi, Siddaramaiah thinks the best way to go about it is to attack the PM. What he is trying to say is that the BJP is not contesting the elections locally."

"One must also bear in mind that some of the strongest attacks against Siddaramaiah too have come from the PM himself. I think in that sense both sides of the competition are focusing on the leadership on either side."

"Siddaramaiah is trying to argue that the Congress campaign is a localised one whereas the BJP's campaign is managed by Delhi. He has taken a gamble no doubt and this seems to be a conscious decision that he has made," Dr Shastri also says.

OneIndia News