BJP emphasises development, double-engine government in Karnataka, Congress banks on guarantees, local issues

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 10 : The fiercely-contested Karnataka battle saw parties adopting different strategies to woo the voters with the BJP emphasising its development plank and the Congress seeking to keep the narrative to local issues.
Corruption was a key issue in the polls held on Wednesday with leaders from both parties levelling allegations against each other almost in every public meeting.
BJP made strenuous efforts to win the polls in the state which has a complex caste matrix and where it seemingly faced anti-incumbency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda were among party leaders who campaigned extensively in the state through rallies and roadshows.
BJP leaders repeatedly emphasised the advantages of double-engine government and the work it had done in the state over the past nearly four years.
The party leaders termed the previous Congress as a "reverse gear" government while slamming the party over "dynastic" and "appeasement politics".
Party leaders also accused the previous Congress government of being soft on the Popular Front of India, which has now been banned.
BJP leaders also raked up issues related to the Batla House encounter and surgical strikes to target the Congress.
The BJP hit out at Congress over its manifesto seeking to draw a parallel between Bajrang Dal with PFI with the 'Jai Bajrangbali' slogan raised at party rallies.
Party leaders took potshots at Congress over the response of its leaders to 'The Kerala Files' movie.
The BJP also made its government's decision to scrap four per cent reservation for Muslims a key issue saying that religion-based reservation is not permitted by the Constitution. The BJP government shifted the Muslims to EWS quota and distributed the four per cent quota equally among Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
Party leaders promised to make Karnataka "No 1 state" in the country in the coming years.
The Congress sought to run a localised campaign and refrained from raising some national issues it has vociferously raised in Parliament.
Party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigned extensively in the state while former party chief Sonia Gandhi also addressed a rally. Karnataka is the home state of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the party has strong leadership in the state.
Congress raised the issues of price rise, unemployment and repeatedly raised its allegation of Basavaraj Bommai government being "a 40 per cent commission government".
The party sought to make 'cooking gas cylinder' a theme of its campaign on the issue of price rise against the BJP government.
The Congress heavily banked on its five guarantees - Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Yuva Nidhi and Shakti - with the party leaders promising their immediate implementation if the party comes to power.
Congress also hopes to gain from some senior Lingayat leaders leaving the BJP over the denial of tickets.
The BJP sought to capitalise on what it saw as Congress mistakes, especially towards the last of the campaign.
Both BJP and Congress said they have a roadmap for a bright future of Karnataka.