Karnataka: Poll battle gets nasty!

Bengaluru: With just forty eight hours left for the campaign for the five Lok Sabha and Assembly by-polls to end, the barbs are flying fast and high with some of the remarks made by political leader at campaign rallies and press conferences, too hard to stomach for those used to a more refined kind of politics.  

Former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy for one, hit below the belt remarking that former CM Siddaramaiah's son Rakesh died a couple of years ago ‘because of his father's sins’. Not to be left behind, his party colleague and BJP MLA Kumar Bangarappa let go a salvo at CM H.D. Kumaraswamy saying he too may have to face the heat of the  #MeToo campaign charges!

Not the one to let go an affront lightly, Mr Siddaramaiah was however dismissive of the Gali remark saying, "I do not want god to punish children for your sins." He was rewarded with appreciation from his fans and from across the political spectrum for sticking to the limits of decency.

The Bangarappa-Kumaraswamy slugfest began after the CM, while speaking at a meeting late Monday evening, alleged that  Kumar had thrown his late father S. Bangarappa out of his house. Hitting back on Tuesday,  Kumar Bangarappa asked Kumaraswamy to refrain from making personal comments. "There are photographs of Radhika Kumaraswamy  (an actress with whom the CM is romantically linked) going around in social media. I would challenge Mr Kumaraswamy to field Ms Radhika from Hassan or any other constituency or use her for campaigning in any of the constituencies," he quipped.

The comments also reflected the intensity of the poll battle in Lok Sabha constituencies like Shivamogga and Ballari where the fight may go down to the wire. The five constituencies go to polls on November 3.

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