Rahul Gandhi to begin Karnataka Campaign, site where he remarked on PM Modi's surname in 2019

• Image Credit: Prag news

• Mar 29, 2023 | Poonam Nath

Rahul Gandhi remarked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname in Kolar, Karnataka, in 2019...

Digital Desk: Congress party's Rahul Gandhi will launch his Karnataka campaign next month ahead of the state polls on May 10. He wills began campaigning from the site where the protest of April 5th on Kolar where Rahul Gandhi remarked on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname which led him to his two-year prison sentence and disqualification from the parliament.

"Rahul Gandhi will travel back to Kolar to kick off his Satyameva Jayate Rally. We had asked him to start the election yatra here. He will begin his massive rally from the location where he made this statement, which the BJP criticised "DK Shivakumar, the state party's head, stated. 

Mr Gandhi had stated during a rally in Kolar in the run-up to the 2019 elections, "How come to all thieves share the similar surname Modi?" in an apparent jab at the Prime Minister, referring to fugitive businessmen Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi.

The BJP, however, saw it as an insult to Other Backward Classes, and Purnesh Modi, a party leader from Gujarat, filed a complaint.

Mr Gandhi has refused to retract his remark. He was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, sparking a massive opposition protest. 

Leaders from 18 opposition parties have attacked the administration, which the Congress sees as a "silver lining" and a stimulus for unifying the opposition ahead of the general election next year.

The Election Commission declared the poll date for Karnataka earlier today, where the ruling BJP is seeking a second consecutive term in power.

The Congress, which partnered with HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal-Secular to create an administration in Karnataka in 2018, found itself out of power a year later. The alliance government was brought down by the resignation of several MLAs. The two parties blamed the BJP for bringing the government down. 

This time, the Congress is running alone. When asked if the party will form another post-election alliance with Mr Kumaraswamy's JDS in the event of a hung parliament, DK Shivakumar stated, "There is no possibility of a hung legislature. There will be only one major party ".

C Srinivasa Gowda, a representative of Mr Kumaraswamy's party, is the current MLA of Kolar. When asked if senior party leader Siddaramaiah will run from Kolar as his second constituency, Mr Shivakumar replied the former Chief Minister had only applied for one. The party's Election Committee may decide on the second constituency.