Karnataka polls: Modi gets fact on Army wrong; Yogi rally today; updates

Days before the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, Prime Minister Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi are repeatedly crossing swords. Catch the Karnataka election campaign updates here

Karnataka Assembly election 2018 has seen vigorous campaigning by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi crossing swords over a plethora of issues, including corruption. While Modi said the Karnataka government was a "gold medalist" in corruption and that Congress leaders were "drunk on power", Gandhi hit right back accusing the BJP of corruption in Rafale fighter jet deal and protecting fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi. The prime minister will on Friday interact with the office-bearers and workers of the BJP's Karnataka women's wing through the NaMo App.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in the poll-bound state, where he took a swipe at the Siddaramaiah government, accusing it of carrying out divisive and corrupt politics. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hit back on Twitter, flaying Adityanath for being in his state for electioneering when 64 people had lost their lives due to a dust storm in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, after the BJP complained to the Election Commission (EC) over what it alleged was the Congress' attempt at playing the "communal card" in the poll-bound state to woo Muslim voters, the Congress on Thursday complained to the EC against the BJP's Karnataka unit for "getting published false and misleading advertisements" in newspapers to malign the public image of Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah.

Voting in the Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 12, 2018, in all 224 constituencies of the state Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes and announcement of results will take place on May 15, 2018.

Here are the top developments in the BJP and Congress' Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign:

1) Modi holding interaction with BJP's Karnataka women's wing today: Prime Minister Modi on Friday will interact with the office-bearers and workers of the BJP's Karnataka women's wing through the NaMo App. Modi will talk about the initiatives taken by his government for woman empowerment. During the interaction, Modi will also answer questions of the workers of the party's women wing. "Narendra Modi will directly interact with the office bearers and karyakartas of Karnataka's BJP Mahila Morcha through Namo App via video bridge, at 9 am," the BJP said in a statement. Read More

Karnataka election: Yeddyurappa to fight from Shikaripura; top developments

BJP released its first list of 72 candidates who will contest in the Karnataka Assembly elections May 12, to be held on May 12. Yeddyurappa will contest from Shikaripura, not Shimoga

The BJP on Sunday released its first list of 72 candidates to contest in the Karnataka assembly elections 2018, to be held May 12 for the 224 seats across the southern state. "The central election committee of the party has decided the first 72 names for the ensuing Karnataka legislative Assembly elections," said the BJP in a statement released by its state unit. The committee met under the party's national president Amit Shah. Other members of the committe, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meet at the party's head office in New Delhi.

Among the candidates are many of the party's 48 sitting or outgoing legislators from the state's northern, central and southern regions, including Bengaluru, which has 28 Assembly constituencies. Prominent nominees are the party's chief ministerial face B S Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, K S Eshwarappa from Shivamogga, Jagadish Shettar from Hubli-Dharwad Central, Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon, C.M. Udasi from Hangal, K.V. Hegde from Sirsi and B. Sriramulu from Molakalmuru (reserved).

For Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s CM candidate, this is a do-or-die election as it will be seen as a prelude to the 2019 general elections as far as South India goes. For the Congress, on the other hand, this is an election for survival. Karnataka is one of the few states in India where they still hold power – and the party will be looking to retain the state.

Top 10 developments on Karnataka Elections 2018 and BJP campaigns

1. BS Yeddyurappa to contest from Shikaripura: State BJP President and the party's CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa will contest from Shikaripura. B Sriramulu, the party MP from Ballari district will contest the Assembly polls and will be the party's candidate from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district. BS Yeddyurappa's rival within the party, and former party President K S Eashwarappa will contest from Shimoga.

→ Karnataka Elections 2018 ←

Karnataka Assembly elections 2018: What parties believe will work for them?

Now with less than two months to go for the assembly elections, Bengaluru and Karnataka are truly in campaign and election mode.

The state has already seen multiple tours by PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah and other bigwigs from all across the political spectrum. JD(S) has already declared their first list of candidates with 126 names. Congress and the BJP are expected to release their first list shortly, by end of March or in the first week of April. Hectic lobbying to secure a party ticket in underway in all camps. It is widely expected that all the parties will give tickets to younger and fresher faces, along with their sitting MLAs. This time around the Karnataka State Assembly Elections will be keenly fought with all the parties believing they have a real shot at power and thus leaving no stone unturned to achieve desirable results. Both the Congress and the BJP have had good electoral experiences in the recent past with BJP wining in the North East and Congress performing better than expected in Gujarat and wining by-polls in MP and Rajasthan.

In Karnataka, the Congress is trying to macro-manage the assembly elections to achieve favourable electoral arithmetic. Both CM Siddaramaiah and Rahul Gandhi have been launching scathing attacks on the policies of the central government and PM Modi. CM Siddaramaiah has tried and projected the 2018 assembly elections as a contest between him and PM Modi. Simultaneously, Congress is also trying to highlight and showcase its achievements and developmental work too. Congress expects to sail through with their traditional vote bank, along with that of minorities and backward class, they are also trying to woo other caste groups and vote blocks in different regions of Karnataka. Current CM Siddaramaiah has had his eyes on the assemble elections since the last couple of years. Thus Congress has indulged in some clever political manoeuvring with playing the son-of-the-soils and Kannada pride card and raked up issues such as anti-Hindi protests and Karnataka state flag. CM Siddaramaiah according minority status to Lingayats just 2 months before the elections is also seen as a move to dent the traditional BJP vote base.