The BJP last time fell short of a clear majority in parts of the old Mysuru region.
With strong anti-incumbency fuelled by a wave of corruption allegations in Karnataka, the BJP is now banking on Prime Minister Modi's popularity in hope of winning votes in Mandya - the region which has been the stronghold of its rival Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS for the election due later this year.
The Prime Minister is laying the foundation stones of projects worth around Rs 16,000 crores in Mandya and Hubballi-Dharwad districts. He inaugurated the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, which is a six-lane project of the Bengaluru-Nidaghatta-Mysuru section of NH-275. The 118 km long project has been developed at a total cost of around Rs 8,480 crore and is expected to reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from around three hours to about 75 minutes.
Taking a dig at Congress for raising the slogan 'Modi teri kabar khudegi' (Modi, your grave would be dug), the Prime Minister said Congress is dreaming of digging his grave while he is busy in building Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway and easing the lives of poor.
"Congress is dreaming of 'digging Modi's grave' but they don't know that blessings of mothers, sisters and people of the country work as protection shield for me. They (Congress) leaders are busy dreaming of 'digging Modi's grave' while I'm is busy in building Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway and improving the lives of poor," PM Modi said.
Mandya is one among the nine districts of the Old Mysore Region that includes Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, and Hassan districts.
The Old Mysore Region, with 61 assembly seats, is a stronghold of the JDS. The Congress has also been a major force in the area.
In 2018, the BJP did exceptionally well in coastal Karnataka and the Mumbai-Karnataka regions. However, it fell short of a clear majority in parts of the old Mysuru region and the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
The BJP flagged off the Vijay Sankalp Yatra, the first among the four planned yatras among the four corners of the state, from the Chamarajanagar assembly seat. And now Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding his second roadshow in Mandya, which has seven constituencies, ahead of the 2023 elections.
During the previous election in 2018, JDS won all seven assembly constituencies in the Vokkaliga heartland - Mandya. However, the following year, in 2019, Narayana Gowda, who won in JDS ticket from the KR Pet constituency, defected to the BJP and won the 2019 by-polls giving the BJP its first-ever win in the JDS bastion. The BJP is now wooing voters with infrastructure development, hoping to convert that into votes.
While one may have defected to the BJP from the JDS in 2019, the BJP is hoping for winnable candidates of the JDS and Congress to join its fold ahead of elections, as it is scrambling for big faces.
Reliable sources within the BJP tell NDTV that "just ahead of elections, when the candidates' list is being finalised, about eight to ten winnable candidates from JDS and Congress will be brought to the BJP and will be fielded from the Mandya, Mysuru, and Chamarajanagar constituencies. We are also banking on Sumalatha's popularity to consolidate votes. Central Minister will be appointed to oversee the poll strategies in Old Mysuru Region".