Day of women leaders in Karnataka poll campaign

Bangalore, April 27 (IANS) It was a day of four women leaders including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP's Sushma Swaraj and BSP supremo Mayawati in Karnataka Saturday as they sought votes for their party candidates in the May 5 assembly poll.

Gandhi addressed meetings in Chikmagalur and Mangalore and lashed out the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state for "betraying" the people's interests and bringing bad name for Karnataka on many fronts.

"Karnataka was known for communal and social harmony which has been damaged in the last five years," she said, adding that the state was losing out on investment because of corruption.

Chikmagalur has a special significance for the Gandhi family as Indira Gandhi re-entered Lok Sabha from here in a bypoll in 1978 after she and the Congress were routed in 1977 in almost entire north India.

BJP's Sushma Swaraj in her address to meeting in Shimoga and Uttara Kannada districts attacked the Congress for the 'Coalgate', 2G and Commonwealth Games corruption scandals.

BJP's Uma Bharati campaigned in Kolar district in south Karnatka and Mayawati in Bidar district in the north.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has been contesting elections for a long time though it has not won any seat. This time it has fielded candidates in 175 of the 224 constituencies.