Karnataka Legislative Council polls: In Bidar, BJP targets ‘outsider’ Vijay Singh

Bidar: Will the BJP’s strategy of emphasizing on the  ‘insider-outsider’ issue in the ongoing campaigning for the Legislative Council poll in the constituency to woo voters reap dividends?

This is the debate raging in  political circles. It’s clear that the saffron party, which has high stakes in retaining the Bidar seat, has carefully chosen its strategy to hit rival party candidates where it would hurt them most-on the ‘outsider’ issue.

The BJP which has fielded Sanjay Kheny, nephew of Bidar South MLA Ashok Kheny,  contends that both Congress candidate Vijay Singh, son of former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, as well as  JDS candidate H.P. Subbareddy, are ‘outsiders’. While Mr Vijay Singh, a Bengaluru based entrepreneur, hails from Jewargi taluk in Kalaburagi district, Mr Subbareddy, a Bengaluru-based businessman,  has his roots in Madhugiri in Tumakuru district.

At all public meetings, BJP is trying to win over voters by appealing to them to reject the ‘outsiders’. The leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar, who kickstarted his party’s campaigning in the district, set the tone for the campaign by asking the voters to reject the “Dharam Singh family as it is not only from outside the district, but also power hungry and not bothered about development”.

Mr Shettar went on to remind  voters that “after being rejected by the people of Jewargi as well as Bidar, Mr Dharam Singh instead of leading a retired life wants to foist his son on the people of Bidar.  This is not acceptable. Mr Singh should realize that he does not have hereditary rights over Bidar.  The people will not support such families”.

Mr Vijay Singh doesn’t feel that the BJP’s ‘malicious’ campaign against him would cut  ice with voters. “My father has been in touch with the district since long and played a crucial role in getting number of development projects including the important Bidar-Srirangapatna highway implemented. Moreover I have been in touch with people after my father got elected as MP in 2009. So the BJP allegations are false,” he asserted.

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