While BJP candidate Ramesh Jarkiholi was busy campaigning in neighbouring constituencies, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was in the Gokak assembly segment to campaign for him and urged the voters not to fall for “false promises” made by the Congress.

In place of Ramesh, his brother Balachandra Jarkiholi — a BJP candidate from the Arabhavi assembly seat – was present during the campaign along with senior local saffron party leaders on Wednesday.

Ramesh, a six-time MLA,  is an influential political leader not only on his home turf but also in the entire Belagavi district. He was among the 17 MLAs who defected from Congress to the BJP in 2019 toppling the

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Congress-JDS coalition government. He is said to have orchestrated the defection of MLAs, which helped the BJP come to power.

Addressing the gathering, Chouhan said the development works are undertaken only by the BJP government and not the Congress which has only given “corruption, crime and commission” besides its anti-Lingayat approach in Karnataka.

He said the Opposition party makes false promises and urged voters not to fall for them. “Beware of (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi’s promises. He had come to Madhya Pradesh promising a debt waiver but            nothing was done.”

The Congress can do anything for votes, and even might promise to get stars from the sky, he said, and alleged that the Congress wants to win elections “to make money”.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said both Congress and JD(S) are two faces of the same coin with dynasty politics. “Voting JD(S) will strengthen Congress,” he said.

Listing out the achievements of the BJP government both at the Centre and state, he said more development initiatives will be undertaken if the double engine government is elected in the state.

“BJP is the only party which can undertake the development works. Support BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modiji who will further strengthen Karnataka.”

Chouhan also thanked Ramesh for defecting from Congress and saving the state from Congress rule.

Gokak is one of the 18 constituencies in Belagavi district, which has the second highest number of assembly seats after Bengaluru urban. The Congress has fielded Mahantesh Kadadi from this constituency.

There are 2,38,221 voters in the Gokak Assembly constituency, out of which 1,16,816 are male, and 1,20,085 female voters. Lingayats comprise 75,000, SC-ST 45,000, Muslim 35000, Kuruba 25000, and Uppar Samaj 14,000.