Karnataka elections: BJP chief Nadda holds roadshow in Bidar

BIDAR: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda held a roadshow in Bidar on Friday in support of party candidates as the campaigning gears up for the state assembly polls scheduled next month.

The roadshow witnessed a huge response from people. Hundreds of BJP workers participated in the road show carrying the party flag.

BJP fielded Eshwar Singh Thakur from Bidar. Further, Shailendra Beldale has been given the ticket from Bidar South. Nadda was on a two-day visit to the state. This is Nadda's first visit to the State after the party announced candidates for the Assembly polls.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka from Friday as the state gears up for a fierce political battle in the month of May. This is also Shah's first visit to Karnataka since the announcement of the polls last month. Shah was supposed to hold roadshows in both Davanagere and Devanahalli. However, his roadshow was cancelled.

The 224-seat Assembly will go to polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13. Big names in the BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and party president JP Nadda among others featured in the party's list of star campaigners for the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections.

The BJP released a list of 40-star campaigners on April 18 for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections for which the BJP has exerted full might to return to power. The other big names from the Centre which will seek votes for the party in BJP's "gateway to the South" (Karnataka) include Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister Smriti Irani and others.

Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also feature in the list. The chief ministers of BJP-ruled states including Karnataka's Basavaraj Bommai who is seeking a second term, Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath, Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will campaign for the party.

Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, KS Eshwarappa who quit electoral politics also feature in the list.