Bengaluru: A day before the poll campaign for the Karnataka assembly election comes to an end, the Congress seems to be making a last-ditch attempt to show that its house is in order, one video at a time.
The party Sunday released Sunday a short video of a “heart-to-heart” chat between state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah — the two men whose rivalry has made the news in the run-up to the polls, with both being seen as chief ministerial contenders if the party comes to power.
In the five-minute video — the first of a two-part series — the senior leaders enquire about each other’s health, share insights from each other’s campaign trails, and also accuse the ruling BJP of not fulfilling the promises it made to the people. The second part promises to tell the viewers why “people have lost faith in the BJP”.
Sharing the video on Twitter, which was ideated and produced by DesignBoxed, a political consultancy firm he engaged, Shivakumar said, “Some conversations are effortless & yet the most impactful. Amidst the intense #KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023 campaigns, Shri Siddaramaiah and me sat for a heart to heart (sic).” The Congress has shared it on the party’s handle as well.
The video begins with Shivakumar asking Siddaramaiah about his health. “Health is good except the virus infection in my left hand. That has been quite painful,” Siddaramaiah responds, pointing at his swollen hand. Shivakumar then notes that Siddaramaiah was also running a fever for a while.
The discussion then moves on to a helicopter accident that Shivakumar had last week while he was on his way to Mulubagal to campaign, when a bird hit the chopper.
“We barely survived the helicopter incident,” says Shivakumar. “…We were flying high and a journalist was interviewing me for a TV channel. All of a sudden, the bird came and hit the front glass and it broke. Fortunately, the captain took control of the situation. Otherwise, we would have never met!”
Campaign trail
The two then go on to discuss their campaign experiences. Siddaramaiah says that he’s travelled in the Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions and predicts winning more seats than the last time.
“People’s response has gone way beyond our expectations,” he adds.
Agreeing, Shivakumar says he’s travelled in the Old Mysuru region, Bengaluru city and other areas where he thought the party’s performance would be “hopeless”. “We will win at least five seats in Mandya,” he says.
He adds that the five guarantees promised in the Congress manifesto have received “unmatchable love and support” from women in the state.
Thereafter, both leaders talk about how to implement these guarantees once the Congress comes to power, but neither talks of chief ministership. “After winning on 13 May, we have to implement it in our first cabinet meeting,” says Shivakumar.
“Definitely. We can’t keep postponing it like the BJP,” responds Siddaramaiah.
The two also insinuate that the BJP is following the Congress’ schemes. Speaking of the Congress’ guarantee to give Rs 2,000 every month to the female head of every household, Shivakumar says, “Our announcement happened on Sankranti, 14 January. On 15 January (Karnataka Chief Minister from the BJP) Basavaraj Bommai gave an advertisement regarding the same programme, saying that they would give Rs 2,000. But in the state budget, only Rs 500 was allocated.”
“After saying that, they (BJP) haven’t repeated it anywhere,” says Siddaramaiah.
Shivakumar adds that the BJP also promised gas cylinders after the Congress launched the scheme mentioned above.
Siddaramaiah recounts how he used to oversee the state budget when he was the CM to make sure that schemes that were promised were implemented.
“When I was there for five years, while preparing the budget, I used to check how many of our promises have been fulfilled and how many more need to be implemented. But the BJP is just not bothered,” he says.
Shivakumar then attacks the BJP, saying that, in the state investors’ meet, nobody wanted to pump money in projects in the districts of Shivamogga, Malnad, and Karavali. To this, Siddaramaiah adds that nothing will happen on the ground.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)