The Congress has steadfastly stuck to its original poll plan of providing a corruption-free government that gives priority to welfare projects, even as the ruling BJP has shifted gears to project celestial beings as its trump card.

The BJP had been on the back foot, defending itself against allegations of corruption, anti-people policies and communal polarisation, when it found an issue in the Congress’s manifesto pledge to ban organisations that spread hate and naming of the Bajrang Dal, among others.

Although several Congress leaders later clarified that it was not up to the state government to ban any organisation, while some privately admitted the “folly” of giving an issue on a platter to the BJP that had been desperately looking for one, its leaders have since resolved to stay on track without losing focus of the party’s poll planks.

The BJP quickly drew on the ban proposal by linking it to an affront to Bajrang Bali — Lord Hanuman — and raked up a sentimental issue aimed at the Hindu majority in the state.

“A day after the manifesto release we had held a meeting at the state party office where our senior leaders decided not to get drawn into debates and discussions on the Bajrang Dal issue although we knew the BJP would convert it into a communally polarising plank,” a Congress office-bearer who declined to be named said on Saturday.

Congress communications head Pawan Khera told a media conference on Friday that the party was waiting for the report of a survey it had commissioned to understand if the Bajrang Dal issue had created any dent in its prospects. But he too promised to remain steadfast with the core issues including corruption.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the party had no regrets about including the issue of a ban in its manifesto since it took guts to take such a decision in the first place.

The Congress pushed back aggressively by accusing the BJP government of damaging or demolishing 1,500 Hindu temples, four of them Hanuman shrines, in the last four years for road widening and other infrastructure work.

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Wednesday accused the BJP government of demolishing Hanuman temples in Nanjangud, one of them making way for the Metro project in Bangalore, one in Shimoga and another in Holalkere, Chitradurga district.

State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar has vowed to renovate and construct new Hanuman temples if the party comes to power and also provided a photo opportunity by praying at a Hanuman temple.

That apart, the party has been rather determined to maintain the focus on the core issues it has been highlighting for months before the elections.

Against the backdrop of the two-day roadshow of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bangalore this weekend, the Congress released full-page advertisements in major Kannada and English dailies in the state on Saturday cementing the “40 per cent commission sarkar” allegation.

It was the state contractors’ association that first accused ministers in the BJP government of seeking 40 per cent kickbacks to clear bills. Matters came to a head when a contractor, Santosh Patil, died by suicide in April 2022.

Patil had blamed rural development and panchayati raj minister K.S. Eshwarappa for his death since he and his aides had allegedly demanded bribes to clear a bill of Rs 4 crore for roadworks he had undertaken in Belgaum.

While Eshwarappa was forced to resign, a police inquiry later absolved him of all charges.

Congress leader P.C. Siddaramaiah told a poll rally in Chikmagalur on Saturday that “the contractors’ association has never accused any government of seeking 40 per cent bribe”.

Siddaramaiah unleashed a tirade against Modi and his promises of corruption-free governance and development for all.

“You should ask the BJP leaders about Narendra Modi’s ‘Na khaaonga, na khaane doonga’ slogan and point out how the BJP government is looting the state,” he said.

Siddaramaiah noted how the Prime Minister has been saying “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” and yet the BJP did not pick a single Muslim or Christian candidate in any of the 224 Assembly constituencies in the state.