Bengaluru: With just nine months remaining for Karnataka to go to polls, the BJP and the Congress will be heading for a show of strength on August 12.

While AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will attend a public rally in Raichur, BJP National President Amit Shah will be coming to Bengaluru on a three-day tour and hold various indoor meetings.

Both leaders are scheduled to chalk out strategies for the Assembly election to be held in 2018. Rahul Gandhi, who recently revamped the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) team and induced new dynamism into the party after appointing AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal as the party in-charge of the State, is set to address a farmers’ rally in Raichur. He is also expected to chair a meeting with Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and KPCC President Dr. G. Parameshwara to take stock of party’s  poll preparations.

KPCC President Dr. G. Parameshwara said that the Raichur public rally which was scheduled for August 4 was postponed to August 12 due to the death of former CM N. Dharam Singh. “The Raichur rally will be attended by Rahul Gandhi along with other senior KPCC Members including Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, Lok Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka in-charge Secretary Venugopal and Oscar Fernandes,” he said.

Dr. Parameshwara said that the Raichur rally will only be the beginning with more such mega rallies in Belagavi, Mysuru and Bengaluru, also planned in the coming months. He said instructions have been given to the District in-Charge Ministers of these places to organise a date and place for the rallies.

Amit Shah is scheduled to camp here for three days from August 12 to 14 as part of his tour of all States, dubbed ‘Vistarak’ programme.

BJP, which sees Karnataka as the gateway to expand its base in southern States, is determined to realise its ‘Mission 150’ in the State in the 2018  Assembly election.

Shah’s visit will be primarily a closed door event with series of meetings scheduled over the three days between August 12 and August 14. “As of date, there has been no schedule for a public rally in the State for the visit of Amit Shah. The programme and schedule list is yet to be finalised,” said a BJP spokesperson.

Issues of drought, Lingayat-Veerashaiva ‘religion’ and also I-T raid on D.K. Shivakumar might be debated when the two leaders are in the State.