Is there a hidden agenda behind Rahul Gandhi choosing Ballari to kickstart Karnataka poll campaign?

As Congress President Rahul Gandhi gears up for the Karnataka poll campaign choosing Ballari as the first destination, we look at why this place was selected  Is there a message that the party wants to send across to PM Modi and the BJP? Is there a design or is it just by default knowing how Sonia Gandhi in 1999 made it to the victory stand by contesting in Ballari against Sushma Swaraj We connect the dots to understand the underlying strategy

Corruption is one factor that has made headlines ever since PM Modi used it to target Karnataka's Congress government during his recent rally in Bengaluru. However, now with Rahul Gandhi's election campaign that will kick off from February 10, there perhaps is an interesting message that the Congress is trying to send back. Rahul   will land at the Jindal airstrip near Bellary city and will take a helicopter ride to Vijayanagarato launch the poll campaign.

Watch the video here:

An important destination Ballari. A place that once was the hotbed that exposed the mining corruption during BJP's regime. A BJP bastion during 2008 went back to the hands of Congress in 2013 with Siddaramaiah then launching a padayatra from Bengaluru to Bellary.

With Rahul Gandhi's stepping into the territory of Ballari, is this a strong reply sent by the Congress to the BJP on 'corruption', knowing well that the Reddy brothers are no longer there? What's interesting is that in 1999, Rahul's mother traversed through the same airstrip to file the nomination papers for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat and defeated BJP's Sushma Swaraj.

Though Congress says choosing Ballari is by default and not design. According to Congress spokesperson Kengal Shreepada Renu, it's a tradition specially followed since the time Sonia Gandhi established that connect in the late 90s.

The BJP though terms it as a runaway programme. BJP spokesperson Vaman Acharya says that if Rahul Gandhi wants to address and answer the corruption charge levelled by Modi, let them talk of Lad brothers and the corruption there with mass-based public function in Bengaluru than have these bus and road shows.

All said and done, the dust is yet to settle in Ballari. Before that we got to see which party dusts the other team out.