Rahul Gandhi's Karnataka Visit Ahead Of Polls Postponed For Second Time

Rahul Gandhi's visit to Karnataka's Kolar district to campaign for the Congress has been postponed for a second time. Candidates would be busy filing nominations and it would be too early for him to go tomorrow, state Congress chief DK Shivakumar told reporters.

He was rescheduled to reach the key mining district in the BJP-ruled state tomorrow. The earlier arrival date was April 5. Now, Mr Gandhi will visit Kolar on April 16, sources said.

Kolar is the same district where Mr Gandhi made the "Modi surname" comment in April 2019, just before the national election, which eventually led to his conviction in a criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state.

Mr Shivakumar and his party colleague Siddaramaiah are the two key faces of the party in Karnataka. There has been speculation about unease between the two on the question of who would be the chief minister if Congress comes to power, though both have denied any rift.

The Congress has already announced its second list of candidates. The BJP is meeting in Delhi today to finalise its candidates; the BJP is understood to have shortlisted three names from each constituency in Karnataka, news agency PTI reported.

The Congress faced protests from some of its supporters and ticket hopefuls after they did not find their names in the second list of candidates.

"I will speak to everyone and try to resolve things. There will be anger (among those who have not got tickets), I won't deny it, they have worked for the party. There are many aspirants. We will resolve everything," Mr Shivakumar told reporters yesterday.

Karnataka has 224 assembly seats. Voting is on May 10; counting on May 13.