BBMP Polls : Azhar Bats for Congress Victory
BANGALORE, Mar 24 (TNN): The Congress is pulling out all stops. On Tuesday morning, it unleashed star campaigner MP Md Azharuddin in Mahalakshmi Layout along with its local candidates and MLA Narendra Babu.
After briefly addressing the people, he went on a road show in several wards in Mahalakshmi Layout and Rajajinagar. It was a while before people realized that it was the former cricketing legend in their midst.
After the two-hour road show in North Bangalore, Azharuddin attended the press conference with KPCC president R V Deshpande at which he said the development of Bangalore, which had reached its peak during the Congress regime, has been stunted.
“This is my second political visit to the city. I came here earlier before the parliamentary elections in Moradabad. During the tenure of chief minister S M Krishna, Bangalore attracted the attention of the world and many IT companies set up operations here. We’re confident the Congress will have an upper hand now,’’ he said.
He added that the peaceful atmosphere of Bangalore and Mangalore has been ruined by communal forces. “It’s very disturbing to see these incidents. It used to happen 30 years ago but to see such incidents happening now is not a sign of progress,’’ he said.
So, will the ‘Azhar factor’ work in a local election? He replied: “It will be hard to get the people to get out and vote. It’s the party workers who have to ensure that voters come out in large numbers.” He added that gathering crowds for events is easy but to ensure this translates into votes is tough.
He also campaigned in Jayanagar and Hombegowda Nagar in the evening. Raj Babbar, MP and Hindi film actor, will campaign in Yelahanka, Hebbal, Shivajinagar, Shanthinagar and Chamarajpet on Wednesday.
Rooting for Hyderabad
When asked to pick his favourite to win IPL-3, he said, “I have been supporting the Hyderabad team from the first edition but it didn’t do so well then. It won in the second outing. I hope it performs well now.” Asked if he was interested in being part of the IPL in some capacity, he said he’s open to the idea.