Karnataka polls: Sonia Gandhi to address rallies in Vijayapura, Belgaum on 8 May; Rahul to launch 9th leg of campaign today

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi will address rallies in Karnataka this week as they lead the party’s high-pitched campaign in the state ahead of the Assembly elections on 12 May. The ruling party is locked in a close contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka as it fights to retain power in the state. [caption id=“attachment_4261291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi will address public meetings in Vijayapura and Belgaum on 8 May. According to the Hindustan Times, this will be Sonia’s first election rally in nearly two years. The UPA chairperson has stayed away from campaigning in all state elections after she was forced to cancel a roadshow in Varanasi, designed to launch the Congress’ election campaign in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections, midway on 2 August, 2016, owing to ill health. Addressing Sonia’s return to the field, Congress secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Manickam Tagore, who is overseeing the arrangements at Vijayapur, was quoted as saying, “The fact that she will address her first election meeting in many years shows how significant Karnataka is for the party.” Meanwhile, Rahul will launch the ninth leg of his campaign in Karnataka, moving to south Karnataka and the Bengaluru area from 7 to 10 May, the report added. The Congress president had undertaken the eighth leg of his campaign for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls on 3 and 4 May. During the election campaign, Rahul had described the election in Karnataka as a “ battle of two ideologies ” and asserted that the Congress would defeat the ‘hate-mongering’ BJP with love.