As PM Modi Begins Karnataka Campaign, Siddaramaiah's Tweet Attack

Bengaluru, Karnataka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kick-started his campaign today for the BJP in Karnataka with the first of a series of public rallies staggered over five days. He addressed his first public meeting in a part of south Karnataka where the BJP has never been strong, say party leaders.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress put out a series of sharp tweets on corruption charges linked to the BJP's presumptive chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and mining baron Janardhan Reddy, who has been campaigning for the party's candidates even though party president Amit Shah has firmly distanced the BJP from him.

"Dear Narendra Modi, heard you are visiting Namma Karnataka tomorrow. We welcome you to our state. While you are here, we Kannadigas would like you to address the following concerns," was the first of a chain of tweets, posted last evening with the hashtag #AnswerMaadiModi.

The questions followed. One of them addressed speculation that PM Modi is discomfited by the charges against Yeddyurappa and doesn't want to be seen sharing the stage with him.

You first make scam tainted @BSYBJP your party's CM face in Karnataka. Then media reports that you don't want to be seen sharing the stage with him at rallies!

Karnataka wants to know if Yeddyurappa is still your CM candidate?

Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 30, 2018

Would G Janardhan Reddy be joining your rallies here? You have given his family & friends 8 tickets, hoping it will help BJP in 10-15 seats.

And then, you lecture us on corruption.

Please end this hypocrisy. Kannadigas aren't wearing Kamala on their ears.

Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 30, 2018

In Karnataka, you give tickets to rape accused & MLAs who watched porn in Assembly. In UP, CM Adityanath protects a BJP MLA who raped a 16 Yr old girl. In J&K, your MLAs defend rapists of a child.

And then your party makes bombastic Ads to politicise rape in Karnataka?!

Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 30, 2018

PM Modi's campaign today takes him to towns in south, north as well as coastal Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa was present at the Prime Minister's first rally in Chamarajanagar.

South Karnataka includes Varuna, which was vacated by Siddaramaiah and where his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah will debut in the May 12 election.

PM Modi will also address a rally in Udupi in coastal Karnataka, where he is expected to visit a mutt or religious centre.

The prime minister had earlier targeted Siddaramaiah with the term "10 per cent government", implying that the state Congress government took 10 per cent commission for development works.

Along with the PM, Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address over 60 rallies in Karnataka as the party tries to scoop up another major Congress-ruled state.

The results of voting for 224 assembly seats in Karnataka will be declared on May 15. Opinion polls suggest neither the Congress nor the BJP will make it on their own, giving regional party Janata Dal Secular a chance to play kingmaker.

The results in Karnataka - the first of the major states holding elections this year - will be a crucial index of party prospects in the run-up to the 2019 national election.