Karnataka Elections 2023: Rahul Gandhi to address 'Jai Bharat' rally in Kolar on April 9

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address an election rally Karnataka's in Kolar on April 9, an indication that the Congress intends to exploit his disqualification from the Lok Sabha as a political issue. Gandhi was convicted for comments made during his speech in Kolar during 2019 general election campaign.

His visit coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to the state on the same day. Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after being found guilty in a criminal defamation case by a Surat court for his comments about the "Modi surname" made during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Kolar.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, taking to Twitter, wrote: "Sh. @RahulGandhi will be in Kolar on 9th April and address the Jai Bharat Mega Rally there. On 11th April, he will visit Wayanad. He is the voice of the people, you can never silence him. This voice will only get louder and stronger."

The party has announced its intention to appeal the verdict of the Surat court in a higher court. The campaign for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled for May 10 is gaining momentum.

Kolar assembly constituency

Kolar (Gen) is a constituency for the State Assembly/Vidhan Sabha, located in the Kolar district and Southern Karnataka region of Karnataka. It is also a segment of the Kolar Parliamentary/Lok Sabha constituency.

The total number of voters in this constituency, including general, NRI, and service voters, is 222,605. Among the general voters, there are 111,491 males, 111,031 females, and 29 individuals who identify as other. The sex ratio of the electorate in the constituency is 99.54, and the estimated literacy rate is approximately 78%.

Past election results

In 2018 assembly election, K.Srinivasa Gowda of the JD(S) defeated Congress' Syed Zameer Pasha by a big margin. While Gowda polled 82,788 votes, Pasha managed to get 38,537 votes.

In two assembly elections before 2018, IND (independent) candidates won from this seat.

In the 2013 Karnataka Assembly Elections, IND secured this seat with 38.51% of the total votes polled, winning by a margin of 12,591 votes (7.7%). The voter turnout in this election was 83.36%.

Similarly, in the 2008 Assembly Elections, IND won this seat with 52.45% of the votes polled, winning by a margin of 21,029 votes (16.6%). In the 2018 elections, this seat had a voter turnout of 71.22%.