To gain seats in Karnataka, the Congress is using disgruntled BJP officials

In addition to relying on its five pledges, which have mostly targeted women and the general public, Congress is also aiming to win over some BJP officials who are unhappy with the candidates the party has selected.

While Yallapura MLA Shivaram Hebbar may support Congress candidate Anjali Nimbalkar in Uttara Kannada against BJP candidate Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, BJP officials, including Yeshwanthpur MLA ST Somashekar, may support Congress candidate Prof Rajeev Gowda in Bengaluru North against Shobha Karandlaje.

In the most recent Rajya Sabha elections, both Somashekar and Hebbar defied their parties’ lines by voting for Congress and without using their right to vote. According to reports, the two leaders decided not to endorse the BJP candidates after meeting with their followers.

Political experts said that many BJP officials in Bengaluru, in addition to Somashekar, are against Shobha being the party’s prominent Vokkaliga face in the area.

According to reports, DK Shivakumar, the head of the KPCC and deputy chief minister in the Old Mysuru district, has advised some BJP MLAs to stay impartial by offering financial support for the upkeep of their Assembly seats beyond the Lok Sabha elections.

Former minister JC Madhuswamy, a supporter of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa in Tumakuru, would either take a back seat or act indifferently since he failed to appear when BJP contender V Somanna submitted his nomination papers. He was transferred out of the constituency and assigned to the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha seat for this reason.

Congress has an idea of how to campaign for this important election thanks to a poll on the effects of the five guarantees, which encompassed 70% of the beneficiaries in 15 districts that included 10–12 Lok Sabha seats. However, the party is illiterate in the other seats, such as Bengaluru, where the polling was slow. According to insiders, this is the reason the Grand Old Party (GOP), particularly Shivakumar, is going all out for “Operation Hasta,” bringing in local BJP and JD(S) officials, and attempting to win over reticent BJP leaders.