Sonia Gandhi on 2 Day Karnataka Tour
posted on Apr 28, 2012 @ 1:20PM
The Congress chief and UPA chairperson Smt Sonia Gandhi is on a 2 day tour to Karnataka state to attend the birthday celebrations of the Tumkur Mutt Swami who turned 105, few days ago. Her visit is seen as an attempt by the Congress to galvanise party workers in the state for the polls coming up in 2013. The Siddaganga Mutt Swami is the most influential guru among the Lingayat community, which forms about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population.
The Lingayats had distanced themselves from Congress since 2004 as the BJP began generous donations to Lingayat mutts. Sonia will attend an hour long puja and seek the swami's blessings. After that she is slated to meet Congress delegates at Tumkur. All four union ministers representing Karnataka - SM Krishna, Mallikarjun Kharge, K H Muniyappa and M Veerappa Moily are travelling with Mrs Gandhi. She is slated to visit the drought-hit Nagasamudra village in Chitradurga district tomorrow.