The election fever is on within the entire country ahead of the upcoming polls in Karnataka. As the BJP launched its manifesto yesterday i.e. on Monday, the Congress has also dispatched one of its star campaigners, Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot to pitch the party’s model of good governance in the southern region.

Rajasthan CM Gehlot interacts with Rajasthani residing in Karnataka

On Monday, the Congress leader, Gehlot was in Bengaluru and Mangalore in an outreach to the Rajasthani migrant population.

According to data, in Karnataka, there are almost 4 lakh Rajasthani migrants, of which approx 1.5 lakh are eligible to vote in the May 10 polls. They comprise about 4 per cent of the state’s voting population.

In this election, every vote will count in a case of closely fought polls for Congress.

Gehlot’s pitch to the Marwari trader community

Jawarilal Lunawat Jain, secretary of Pravasi Rajasthani Karnataka Sangh said “As Chief Minister of one of the few Congress-ruled states, Ashok Gehlot was expected to make a successful pitch to the Marwari trader community in Basvangudi and Gandhinagar.”

However, he is the only leader from Rajasthan in the spotlight in Karnataka. Amid the internal tussle between him and his rival Sachin Pilot, Sachin has been left out of the campaigner’s list.

Later this year, Rajasthan goes to polls and Mr Pilot, who had helped re-build the party from the grassroots ahead of the 2018 election, is working in the state.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi – spearheading the BJP’s campaign — attacked the Rajasthan Congress twice in three days. Also, PM Modi has said that a vote for the Congress would mean a government marked by infighting. As an example, he cited Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

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BJP’s diving rule in the state

Hitting out at the prime minister, Rajasthan CM said the BJP too is a house divided and the party’s “model of governance is to topple elected governments.”

Citing an example, Gehlot said Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and Manipur. But in Rajasthan, their efforts have failed, he pointed out. “They (the BJP) lost the money they invested in trying to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan,” he added.

“Wherever the Congress government is formed, the Rajasthan model will be implemented to take care of all sections of the society,” Mr Gehlot told his audience. “Social security should be a national plank. Rajasthan has done its bit, we have the right to health the most comprehensive health insurance scheme,” he added.