Karnataka polls: 'Outlanders' Siddaramaiah, Sreeramulu play to Badami crowd

Across Karnataka, the election is perceived as a tourney between Modi and Siddaramaiah, although Sreeramulu has a standing even independent of Modi

Badami was not on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s radar when it drew up its list of Karnataka Assembly election 2018 candidates -- not until Chief Minister Siddaramaiah opted to fight from this constituency as a second seat, by the admission of a senior party strategist. 

Suddenly, but not inexplicably, this crummy little northern Karnataka town, 105 km to the north of Hubli and veiled in clouds of red dust emanating from the over-quarried hills encasing it, engaged the attention of BJP President Amit Shah. Shah loves to make an affray out of a commonplace contest when it involves a big