Tag: Polls

Karnataka polls: PM, Shah, Priyanka to hold mega roadshows, address rallies

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Bengaluru: As Karnataka is inching closer towards the May 10 Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are all set to hold mega roadshows and address rallies on Saturday.
As part of his two-day visit to the state, Modi will first tour Humnabad of Bidar district, and then head to Vijayapur after which he will reach Belagavi later in the afternoon.
He will reach Bengaluru by the evening and take part in the mega roadshow from NICE Road to Sumanahalli Junction.

The Prime Minister will spend the night at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.
On Sunday, he is slated to address a huge public rally in Kolar and also visit Channapatna, where former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is contesting from and holding a mega public meeting.
Modi will later reach the historical Beluru town in Hassan district, the stronghold of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s family.
In the evening, he will be in Mysuru and hold a mega road show from Vidyapeetha circle to Bannimantap.
The state’s ruling BJP government is relying heavily on Modi’s visit and is planning to rope in some 2 lakh people for each public rally. In the north, his visit is expected to counter rebellion and keep the Lingayat vote bank intact for the party.

In the south, the BJP wants to consolidate its position and break the stronghold of the JD (S) and Congress in the districts of Kolar, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur.
Also on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also take up high-voltage campaigning in Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
He will hold a roadshow in Madikeri city and ampaign with BJP workers in Udupi and Kapu.
Shah is expected to attend another roadshow in Byndoor constituency and address a mega public rally in Mangaluru in the evening.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi will arrive in Dharwad and hold a roadshow in Kundagol.
She will address a huge public rally in Navalgund near Dharwad and also take part in a public meeting at Dandeli in Haliyal, Uttara Kannada district.
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#Karnataka #polls #Shah #Priyanka #hold #mega #roadshows #address #rallies
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023
Karnataka polls: Modi to hold road show, 3 public meetings on Saturday

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Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address three public meetings and hold a road show in Karnataka on Saturday as he embarks on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state.
Since February this year, this is Modi’s ninth visit to Karnataka where Assembly elections to 224 seats are due on May 10.
According to his itinerary, Modi will fly from Delhi on Saturday at 8.20 am by a special aircraft and reach Bidar airport at 10.20 am from where he will take a helicopter to Humnabad in Bidar district to address a public meeting at 11 am.

After the meeting, he will fly to Vijayapura where he will address another public gathering at 1 pm. He will then fly to Kudachi in Belagavi district where he will address people at about 2.45 pm.
Later, Modi would fly to Bengaluru in the evening to hold a road show in Bengaluru North.
The Prime Minister will stay in Bengaluru on Saturday and will depart from Raj Bhavan on Sunday morning to hold public meetings in the district headquarter town of Kolar, Channapatna in Ramanagara district and Belur in Hassan district.
He will also hold a road show in Mysuru on Sunday before flying back to Delhi.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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#Karnataka #polls #Modi #hold #road #show #public #meetings #Saturday
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 29, 2023
Adityanath compares UP civic polls to `Deva-Asura War’

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Sitapur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday termed the upcoming urban body elections as the “Deva-Asura Sangram”, a battle between the gods and their enemies, and said it is necessary to teach the corrupt and the mafia a lesson.
Addressing an election meeting ahead of the state-wide civic polls on May 4 and 11, the chief minister assured the development of the sacred Naimisharanya site in Sitapur.
“Naimisharanya will undergo a facelift on the lines of Kashi, Ayodhya and Mathura. After Naimisharanya’s rejuvenation, religious tourism will create employment opportunities in every sector,” he said in Sitapur.

Adityanath also addressed meetings in Lakhimpur Kheri and Balrampur as part of the campaign.
He compared the civic polls to the war between the gods and the demons.
“In this land of Naimisharanya, Maharishi Dadhichi once donated his bones to make weapons for the victory of the divine forces,” he said, adding the elections provided an opportunity to teach a lesson to the corrupt and the criminals who flourished under the previous regimes in the state.
The BJP has been attacking the opposition Samajwadi Party for allegedly giving patronage to criminals when it was in power.
At another meeting, the CM said before 2017, when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, there was hooliganism in the state and a “goonda tax” collected from traders.

But now nobody has the courage to demand it, he said.
“Basic facilities will start to reach every home as soon as the ‘third engine’ joins the ‘double-engine government,” he said, referring to the BJP governments already in UP and at the Centre.
“The benefits of the government’s schemes will be made available to everyone without discrimination,” Adityanath added.
In Lakhimpur Kheri, he said along with facilities like four-lane roads, technical education, the area will soon have a medical college and its airstrip developed into an airport.
Lakhimpur will serve as a hub of ecotourism, which will open new avenues for the region’s development, he said.
He claimed only the BJP reached out to people during the Covid pandemic.
“We also provided a free ration facility. Whether it is welfare schemes for the poor or the infrastructure, we have taken care of everything,” he said.
Votes polled in the two-phase election will be counted on May 13. PTI
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#Adityanath #compares #civic #polls #DevaAsura #War
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
EIU predicts Imran Khan’s victory in Pakistan polls

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London: A forecast by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has said Pakistan will head to polls in October, if not earlier, and that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s victory is likely due to widespread discontent among the ruling coalition government.
The analysis division of the Economist Group, EIU, said that political stability and security are “tenuous” in Pakistan, and that economic growth will “slow materially” in 2023, Dawn reported.
“Pakistan will conduct national elections in 2023, where we expect the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party led by Imran Khan to win owing to widespread discontent with the ruling PML-N coalition, led by the incumbent Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif,” the report said, adding that the political environment will remain marred by violence, Dawn reported.

In its baseline forecast, EIU predicted opposition victories in the legislative polls scheduled to be held in Pakistan and Thailand, saying that elections in both countries will be contentious with risk of military interference.
“Pakistan’s election is most likely to occur in October, after the end of the current parliamentary term in August, but it could happen earlier given a worsening economic crisis. Looming loan repayments and a lack of foreign exchange reserves mean the country is teetering on the edge of sovereign debt default.
“Averting this will require painful economic measures, including severe import repression, that could force an early election,” the report said.
It said, Khan, who is predicted to win the election, will have “little choice but to (negotiate with IMF) again”, Dawn reported.

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#EIU #predicts #Imran #Khans #victory #Pakistan #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
Telangana: KCR tells party members to prepare for early polls

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Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister and BRS national president K Chandrashekar Rao on Thursday told his party leaders to prepare for the state elections which he said, will be held in October this year.
According to sources, the state cabinet could ask the Governor to dissolve the Assembly, in which case the elections would be held within the time period as stipulated by the Constitution.
KCR talked of the “impending” elections while speaking to office-bearers at the BRS’s general body meeting on the party’s founding day, in Hyderabad.

Addressing the meeting, the Telangana chief minister claimed the strides that the state has made show that anything could be achieved in a “parliamentary system”.
“Now, we are moving ahead with the vision of putting the country on the path to progress with a slogan of ‘Aab Ki Bar Kisan Sarkar’,” he added, underlining the party’s ambition to mark its political and electoral footprints beyond Telangana.
BRS won 63 seats in the first Assembly election since the state was founded. It bettered its performance in the subsequent Assembly polls, bagging 88 seats.
“The BRS will win more than 100 seats in the next (Assembly) elections. Returning to power in Telangana won’t be a challenging task for us but the priority should be to win more Assembly seats than we did the last time,” the CM said.
“We will put out television advertisements and also produce (promotional) films in future to help the party reach out effectively to the masses. If necessary, the party will also launch a TV channel of its own,” the CM said.

He directed BRS leaders to identify “idle” government land in all the districts and inform his office about it so that the plots could be distributed to the poor for building houses.
“In some villages, government plots are lying idle. Submit the details of such land with survey numbers at my office. Suitable land will be distributed to the poor so that they could build houses,” he said.
Earlier, on Thursday, KCR laid floral tributes before the statue of Telangana Talli at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad. Later, the BRS Supremo unveiled the party flag.
The meeting of the party representatives began with an inaugural speech by BRS Secretary General and MP K Keshava Rao.
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#Telangana #KCR #tells #party #members #prepare #early #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 28, 2023
“It’s time for a change…” Priyanka Gandhi on upcoming Karnataka assembly polls

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Mysuru: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said that it is time for a change in Karnataka as BJP has not done any constructive work in the state.
While addressing the mediapersons, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “They (BJP) have not done any constructive work for Karnataka. So it is time for a change”.
“In the last three years from every aspect things have got down in the state be it facilities or infrastructure. People rather listening to politicians know from their own experiences about the governance of the BJP,” she added.

She further stated that a corrupt government is being run in the state of Karnataka which has done nothing for the people.
“Karnataka is running a corrupt government and it is a government that has done nothing for the people. We want a government that works for the people, BJP did not do any work for the people of Karnataka,” she said.
In this regard, Priyanka Gandhi also took to Twitter and said, “Actually the people of the state are fighting the election of Karnataka – against the government with 40% commission, against the betrayal done to Karnataka, against the corruption of BJP. Congress is coming – for employment, for relief from inflation, for the welfare of the poor, for the development of the state”.
Earlier Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at the incumbent BJP government in Karnataka, claiming the “40 per cent commission government” will be reduced to 40 seats in the May 10 Assembly elections.
Addressing a roadshow in Vijayapura, Rahul Gandhi said, “The Congress will form the government in Karnataka with 150 seats while 40 per cent commission government of the BJP will be reduced to 40 seats”.

Reacting to this Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of terming the Bommai government in Karnataka as ’40 per cent commission BJP government’ and said if the Congress have evidence they should go to court.
“They can talk about it and should go to court if they have concrete evidence. Neither there’s any probe nor there’s any case. How will people believe in such baseless allegations?” he said.
The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.
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#time #change #Priyanka #Gandhi #upcoming #Karnataka #assembly #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 26, 2023
Karnataka polls: With son in hospital, JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda takes up campaigning

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Bengaluru: In the absence of his son H.D. Kumaraswamy who has been hospitalised with exhaustion symptoms, JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has taken up full-fledged election campaigning at the age of 89 years in Karnataka against the doctors’ advice.
Kumaraswamy has been hospitalised with exhaustion symptoms following a hectic campaigning schedule. He took up the challenge against the campaigning blitzkrieg of two national parties single-handedly. He is strategising for the party from the hospital.
To make up for his son’s absence at this crucial juncture, Deve Gowda, who is not physically fit to take up campaigning, has decided to pitch in for the party.

On Monday, he will campaign in Sira, Koratagere, Madhugiri cities in Tumakuru district which has 11 Assembly seats and is considered a stronghold of JD(S). Deve Gowda will reach Mysuru district on Tuesday and campaign for the party in Piriyapatna, Hunsur, K.R. Nagara towns.
As Deve Gowda is taking up campaigning against the advice of doctors, a team of medical experts are also following him. Deve Gowda had campaigned in Padmanabhanagar constituency in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was brought on a wheel-chair for the recently-held public rally of JD(S) and is attracting huge crowds and his appeals to see JD(S) in power for the last time are finding traction among masses in Vokkaliga heartland.
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#Karnataka #polls #son #hospital #JDS #supremo #Deve #Gowda #takes #campaigning

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 24, 2023
‘Amul-Nandini made an emotional issue for Karnataka polls’: Sitharaman

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Bengaluru: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday alleged that Amul-Nandini had been made an emotional issue in Karnataka in view of Assembly elections scheduled next month.
She said that “things were tweaked, twisted and made an emotional issue because it is election time in Karnataka”.
Assembly elections in Karnataka are scheduled to be held on May 10.

The Union Minister said that to suddenly say that Amul is being brought to Karnataka to kill Nandini is ‘brazen’.
She alleged that the Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul), the Gujarat-based dairy cooperative, had entered Karnataka when the Congress was in power.
“Amul entered Karnataka when there was a Congress-led government here. I’m not sure if I should name the Chief Minister of that time. The same respected former CM is now questioning Amul’s entry. It was in his time Amul entered North Karnataka for marketing in those areas,” she said.
The Finance Minister was responding to a question regarding the Amul-Nandini controversy, during the interaction with Thinkers Forum, Karnataka here.
Amul-Nandini has become a key issue ahead of the elections, as the opposition Congress and JD-S have alleged that the ruling BJP is trying to finish off Nandini by merging it with Amul.

The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) sells milk, curd and other dairy products under the brand name Nandini.
“This, strictly speaking, is tweaked, twisted and made an emotional issue because it is election time. Instead of building a healthy competition and a positive narrative, the issue was twisted,” she said.
“In India’s scheme of things, every state has its own milk cooperative. Karnataka’s Nandini… whoever doesn’t recognise it? Even now as I’ve come, I had Nandini milk, curd, peda. Of course in Delhi, I’ll buy Amul,” Sitharaman said.
“I represent Karnataka (but) in Delhi, if Nandini isn’t available, I’m mentally not a sanyasi to say I won’t drink milk if Nandini isn’t available. I still buy Amul. That’s not being against Karnataka,” she added.
She pointed out Nandini too sells its products in other states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh just like other state dairies’ products are also available in Karnataka.
“Good competition I would say. The idea is therefore to strengthen India in every aspect. That’s why India became the world’s largest milk producer,” she said.
She clarified that strengthening Nandini and dairy farmers in Karnataka would continue to happen.
She observed that farmers and women need not be brought into a political issue.
Stating that Karnataka’s milk farmers need to be supported, Sitharaman claimed that it was the BJP government headed by B.S. Yediyurappa which raised the procurement price of milk for the first time.
“Again, the current BJP government increased it to Rs 5. So, support to milk-giving farmers will continue,” she said.
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#AmulNandini #emotional #issue #Karnataka #polls #Sitharaman
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Caste Census demon haunts Maha BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls

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Mumbai: The clamour for a caste-based Census has once again come to haunt the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, which is treating the sensitive issue with kid-gloves, with the general elections barely a year away.
The Imperial Census, first conducted by the British Government in 1871-72 for the entire population, and later periodically undertaken, has always included general questions based on caste-religions.
However, the first loose Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) was taken up by the British in 1881 — over 140 years ago, followed by a similar one in 1931.

In 2011, India had conducted a SECC but mostly to ascertain the number of people living below poverty line (BPL) and design targeted welfare measures or schemes for that group.
Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole raised the issue of a Caste-based Census in Dec. 2021, and soon the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) also joined the chorus.
“The decision for a Caste Census was taken unanimously (by Maha Vikas Aghadi), but after that the new government is reluctant to take it up,” said Patole recently.
Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe said that the state government has brought the proposal to a standstill “with nothing moving ahead now”, and demanded that it should be immediately revived.
NCP President Sharad Pawar has made a strong plea for Caste Census owing to “strong sentiments linking it with social justice”, to create targeted development plans for various caste groups and help achieve an all-inclusive overall national growth.

Party’s Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that the government’s reluctance is confusing as with passing time, increasing population and aspirations, even welfare measures and policies need to be modified to suit the current situation.
According to Shiv Sena (UBT) National Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, the BJP government is worried about a Caste Census ahead of the 2024 elections as it would “reveal a lot and expose them”.
“There are a lot of caste imbalances, those who are less in number are enjoying the maximum fruits of developments, while the huge majority of the deprived at the lower levels of society in all castes-communities, continue to be ignored and their economic status keeps degrading,” said Tiwari.
Tapase feels that a Caste Census will throw up exhaustive, scientific data that can enable policy-makers to formulate special policies, reservations and implementation for each equitable representation to each caste or community, depending on their actual needs.
Presently India is largely relying on the data thrown up in the 1931 Caste Census, but the socio-economic situation has undergone a sea-change in the past 90 years compelling the need to ‘refresh’ the figures and caste components in the 21st century.
Replying to the demands, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last month stated that the government will send a team to study the Bihar pattern where a caste-census is being carried out.
Admitting that there is a near-consensus on a Caste-based Census in the state, Fadnavis also cautioned for care as such an exercise could potentially create caste conflicts, and hence the need to analyse the Bihar experience on this count before taking a final decision here.
Urging for a well-researched scientific approach, Fadnavis referred to the 2011 SECC and claimed that the data was not made public owing to several issues, errors and discrepancies, and adopting such wrong statistics could lead to a fresh social crisis as all communities would object.
Stressing the need for a proper Caste Census, Janata Dal (U) MLC Kapil Patil said it would help determine not only the OBC population in the state but also provide data of all communities in Maharashtra.
Tapase said that when the latest authentic data is available, the government can ensure that welfare schemes reach the intended sections and remove the existing glaring socio-economic disparities.
Incidentally, Maharashtra announced in the Budget 2023-2024 that it will set up caste-wise development corporations for Lingayat, Gurav, Vadar and Ramoshi communities in the state, further spurring the demand for a Caste Census.
A couple of years ago the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes (MSCBC) had given the finishing touches to the empirical data collection format and norms for a proposed SECC, estimated to cost around Rs 435-crore, but as state Opposition leaders rue, nothing has moved ahead.
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#Caste #Census #demon #haunts #Maha #BJP #ahead #Lok #Sabha #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Confident of winning more than halfway mark in Karnataka polls: Shah

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Bengaluru: Home Minister Amit Shah expressed confidence on Saturday that the BJP will win 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark in Karnataka assembly polls and asserted that its support base remains intact despite defection by some party leaders, noting that historically its rebels have not won and “this will prove true this time also”.
With the Congress targeting the central government over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case, Shah told India Today in an interview that “no family is above the law in India and the law is above all”.
Gandhi vacated his government bungalow on Saturday after he was served a notice for eviction and claimed that he is paying the price for speaking the truth.

Replying to a question on Gandhi playing “victim”, he said, “We never asked Rahul Gandhi to disrespect the OBC community. He himself decided not to apologise.
“The law under which he was convicted was made by the Congress government. Then prime minister Manmohan Singh tried to withdraw that law but Rahul Gandhi himself tore down the ordinance. Now he should not play the victim. No one should think that any family is above the law.” The ordinance, if passed by Parliament, would have spared any convicted MP from immediate disqualification.
To a question about the allegation that the CBI summoning former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik is linked to his recent criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, the home minister said such a charge is not true as he was called by the probe agency earlier too.
“I can say with complete conviction that the BJP has done nothing that needs to be covered up. If someone is levelling allegations after parting ways with us, then it should be evaluated accordingly by the media and people,” he said.
On Karnataka assembly polls scheduled for May 10, he said the BJP will get 15-20 seats more than the halfway mark of 112 seats in the 224-member legislature.

They are not substantiated by any court and have been fabricated by the Congress to cover up corruption during its own regime, Shah claimed, accusing the opposition party of using Karnataka as its “ATM” when it was in power.
The Congress has no answers to its apathy towards Karnataka during its regime, he said, adding that when the Congress-led UPA was in power during 2009-14, the Centre released Rs 94,224 crores to the state.
Prime Minister Modi increased the amount to over Rs 2.26 lakh crore during 2014-19. The tax devolution and grant-in aid was Rs 22,000 crore but has been increased to Rs 75,000 crore, he added.
Attacking Congress, he said its government violated the Constitution by providing four per cent reservation for Muslims in the state.
The Constitution does not allow any kind of reservation on the basis of religious identity, he noted.
The BJP government has scrapped this reservation and increased the quota for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vokkaligas and Lingayats, he said.
While the Congress “protected and nurtured” the PFI, a radical Islamic organisation now banned by the Modi government, he said its cadres used to commit murders in broad daylight in the state.
PM Modi banned it and provided security to the people of the state, he said.
On the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “We will give a befitting reply to any attack on India.” He added that violence against the foreign embassies of India will not be taken lightly by the Modi government.
BJP’s record in developing Bengaluru stands unmatched by any other political party.
ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರವು ಸಮಗ್ರ ವಿಧಾನದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಗರವನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವದ ಅತಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಯುತ ಮತ್ತು ಸಮೃದ್ಧ ನಗರವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ. pic.twitter.com/AOv8ZOXtbc
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) April 22, 2023
On the “personal attacks” launched on Modi, he said, “Personal attacks on Modi ji are not new and began long back by Sonia Gandhi who had called him ‘Maut Ka Saudagar’. But whenever he faced such attacks he emerged stronger”.

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#Confident #winning #halfway #mark #Karnataka #polls #Shah
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 22, 2023