PM chooses Maddur to launch Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway, woo Mandya voters

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Mysuru: To strengthen the BJP in the sugarcane belt of Mandya district in South Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has strategically selected Maddur to launch the Bengaluru-Mysuru Express Highway project on March 11. Arrangements are going on in full swing for the much-publicized highway that had missed several deadlines because of the Covid-19 pandemic and unprecedented rains.

With this launch, the BJP is hoping to make inroads in the Vokkaliga-dominated district where the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have been traditional rivals in all previous elections. People here have always treated the BJP as the ‘party of North Indians and upper castes’ and swear loyalty to the Congress Party which they still consider the party of ‘Indiramma’(former PM late Indira Gandhi).

To woo the Vokkaligas, the BJP had earliert unveiled the 100-plus-feet tall statue of Naada Prabhu Kempegowda near Bengaluru International Airport and also awarded the Padma award to former CM, S.M.Krishna who hails from Somanahalli village in Maddur taluk. BJP’s ‘Chanakya’ and Union Home Minister Amit Shah has given a target of 25-35 seats to the state unit for South Karnataka and has held public meetings in the district.

Meanwhile, the saffron party is trying its best to woo Mandya Independent Lok Sabha member Sumalatha Ambareesh to strengthen the BJP in the district. Her husband late Ambareesh belonged to Doddarisanakere village of Maddur taluk where a temple of his has been set up by his die-hard fans.