Madikeri: With days remaining for Assembly elections in Karnataka, campaigning has heated the poll scene in the State. Kodagu will witness intense activity as Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Madikeri on Apr. 29.

Shah is expected to hold rallies and speak at public meetings, seeking votes for Madikeri BJP candidate M.P. Appachu Ranjan and Virajpet candidate K.G. Bopaiah. The Union Minister has already expressed confidence that the party will win with an absolute majority and retain power in Karnataka. He said that the BJP will win 15-20 seats over the halfway mark (112) in Karnataka.

As part of his Kodagu programme, Amit Shah will address a public rally on Apr. 29 at 10.30 am at the Gandhi Maidan.

Addressing a press conference in Madikeri yesterday, BJP Kodagu in-Charge Pratap Simha Nayak, who is also an MLC, said that the BJP is poised to retain power in Karnataka as the ‘double engine’ Government has initiated various development programmes.

“History will repeat in Kodagu district as BJP will sweep its rivals with huge margins in Virajpet and Madikeri K.G. Bopaiah and Appachu Ranjan will emerge victorious with a huge margin,” he said.

“People of Kodagu will move away from caste politics and they will come out of communalism. It is the BJP that has banned anti-national organisations like the PFI and has made the country secure and at the same time initiated several development activities,” he added.

“The coming elections are about handing over the future of the State to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People should vote for a new Karnataka. This is an election for honest politics and development. If Congress comes to power, it will put the State in reverse gear,” Pratap Simha Nayak said.