In the slog over of the Karnataka campaign, the BJP and the Congress have pulled out all stops to reach out to the voters and galvanise their supporters. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are going to spend the remaining days addressing back-to-back rallies. Modi will hold as many as four rallies on Saturday and will altogether address 15 more allies. Rahul will also be holding 14 to 16 more rallies in the next five days.

With stakes high for both the parties, the campaign has turned bitter and personalised and both sides are accusing each other of creating caste and communal divisions. Corruption also figures in good measures in the campaign though it may not cut much ice with the voters.

When Modi called Siddaramaiah Government “10 per cent commission ki sarkar”, the Karnataka Chief Minister showed mirror to the BJP by reminding  the Prime Minister that his CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa was in jail in corruption charges and Reddy brothers were equally tainted.

Realising that it cannot make corruption an issue in Karnataka, the BJP is now trying to corner the Congress by raking up other sensitive issues. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took this task upon himself by accusing the Siddaramaih Government of backing jehadi elements and turning the State into a killing field of Hindu activists.

The fast and furious entry of Modi from May 1 when he started his whirlwind electioneering at the district level has en-livened the poll scene as he took the Siddaramaiah Government head-on and accused it of converting Bengaluru into a “garbage city and valley of sin” from “Silicon Valley”.

“Bengaluru was admired as a garden city, but the Karnataka Government is trying to turn this into a garbage city. They are showing no concern for the city’s needs,” Modi said in his full-scale attack.

In his riposte, Rahul accused Modi of insulting the city of Bengaluru, which has ushered country’s IT revolution. Siddaramaiah also joined Rahul, saying, “Bengaluru, the city you ridiculed yesterday, leads the nation with 25 per cent women’s participation in the workforce. In Delhi, the city you live in, the rate is 10 per cent. We must be doing something right.”

BJP campaign suffered a jolt on Friday after the Supreme Court disallowed Mining baron G Janardhana Reddy to campaign in Bellary from where his brother is contesting on the BJP ticket.

Currently on bail in an illegal mining case, Reddy’s bail order had a condition prohibiting his entry into Bellary. Seeking modification of this condition, Reddy approached the apex court to be allowed to campaign in the district for his brother Gali Somashekhara Reddy, who is contesting elections on a BJP ticket from Bellary constituency.

Appearing for the mining baron, advocate Bina Madhavan sought a week’s time for her client to campaign for elections till May 10. The elections are due in the State on May 12. A Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the counsel why her client was interested to visit the place and expressed its inability to relax the bail condition on this ground.

The controversial Reddy brothers have been on the target of Siddaramaiah, who has questioned the Modi Government’s commitment to its much published anti-corruption plank as the BJP has now not only associated with Reddy brothers but allocated tickets to seven of his clan members.

The pace of BJP campaign was also impeded as the storm tragedy back home forced Yogi Adityanath to cut short his tour to Karnataka and return to UP.

Taking a pot shot at the UP Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah had on Thursday said he felt sorry for UP whose Chief Minister was busy campaigning in Karnataka instead of standing by his State.

“I am sorry your CM is needed here in Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah had tweeted. “I am sure he will return soon & attend to his work there.”

Adityanath was earlier scheduled to campaign till Saturday noon. Before leaving for his State, the UP Chief Minister accused the Congress of following its alleged tradition of dividing the country.

“The Congress has had a tradition of breaking and dividing. From the partition of the country to the caste and religion based politics that we see today, all of it is a legacy of the Congress. Both Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah are following the same Congress tradition. The BJP believes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshta Bharat’ slogan. We also want a political unification of the country and from that point of view, the Karnataka election is very important to us,” he said.

The heat generated in the run-up to the polling day is expected to go up by the closing hours of May 10 as loss or gain of a few seats could decide the fate of both the parties.

The Prime Minister is continuing with his campaign even when he is Delhi. On Friday, while addressing  Karnataka BJP Mahila Morcha Karyakartas via the ‘Narendra Modi App’, Modi asked them to win the May 12 Karnataka Assembly elections by concentrating on booths. During his speech, Modi recalled the legacy of women leadership in Karnataka by remembering Kittur Rani Chennamma, Belavadi Mallamma, Rani Abbakka, Onake Obavva and legendary Hindustani singer Gangubai Hangal.

The Prime Minister said he was “also excited to know that there was a dedicated women team that worked behind ISRO’s Mars Mission Mangalyan”. He also said capable women had been given important portfolios in his Cabinet.

Siddaramaiah was quick to describe Modi’s comments as mere tokenism. Dubbing as ‘tokenism’ Modi’s interaction with BJP women workers on women power, Siddaramaiah asked him to learn from Karnataka on the subject and to “cut bhashan (speech) and promote action.”

The Chief Minister, in a series of tweets, listed out various initiatives of his Government for women.

“Tokenism Modi ji. Real empowerment comes from real policies. Yesterday you ridiculed a candlelight march to protest against defenders of child rapists in Kathua & today you pretend to care for Mahila Shakti,” he tweeted in response to Modi’s comments about important portfolios to women in his Cabinet.

Asking Modi to learn from Karnataka how it is done, Siddaramaiah said in another tweet his Government has made education free for girls from class 1 to Post Graduation.