NEW DELHI: In an attempt to outbid the rivals in the final lap before the impending Karnataka Assembly elections, both the incumbent BJP and the challenger Congress have released their respective lists of "star campaigners" for the May 10 polls. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with 25 scheduled rallies in the poll-bound state, tops the BJP list, the Congress has fielded the Gandhis, party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor, among others.
Besides the Prime Minister, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Lingayat strongman B.S. Yediyurappa are among the BJP's list of 40 star campaigners.
The BJP list includes the names of party president J.P. Nadda, Union ministers and former party presidents Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. Arvinda Limbavali, whose wife has been fielded by the party leadership instead of him for the coming polls, and Rajya Sabha member and Kannada film industry stalwart Jaggesh also feature in the list.
Other than the former BJP presidents, the party has also included Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya and Pralhad Joshi on its Karnataka campaign roster.
In addition to the UP CM, the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Assam, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma, respectively and Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadvavis have been included.
The Congress list of star campaigners for the Karnataka Assembly polls includes names of Mr Kharge, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mr Tharoor.
The names of state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar, Karnataka’s Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and former BJP stalwart Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress this week, also feature in the list.
While Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is also among the list of 40-star campaigners for the upcoming elections, the name of former Rajasthan deputy chief minister and party leader Sachin Pilot was missing from the list. The names of senior leader Digvijaya Singh, former Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, media chief Pawan Khera and national spokesperson Supriya Srinate were also missing from the list.
On the Congress list, among others, are the names of former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar, cricketer-turned-politician Mohammad Azharuddin, actor-turned-politician Divya Spandana, Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
