By BD Narayankar Bengaluru, Mar 13 (Reporter) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the Karnataka phase of the Lok Sabha election campaign from Kalaburgi from March 16, the home turf of All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge who reportedly is reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha election from there. "On March 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Kalaburgi where he will address a significant public gathering," Karnataka BJP General Secretary Sunil Kumar told reporters here on Wednesday. Following this, on March 18, PM Modi will be addressing another large public meeting in Shivamogga at 2 pm, he said. These visits are part of his two-day tour, with the Kalaburgi event taking place at the Kalaburagi NV playground and the Shivamogga event at Allamaprabhu Maidan, Kumar said. Eighty-year-old Kharge had won from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha segment twice but lost the 2019 polls. Prime Minister Modi's decision to begin the Karnataka phase of the Lok Sabha elections from the constituency formerly held by AICC Chief Kharge could be seen as a strategic move by the BJP to challenge the Congress party's stronghold in the region. According to media reports, the Congress party's national president is allegedly not enthusiastic about contesting the general election from the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency. The party cites the leader's responsibilities in managing national party affairs and coordinating with allies in the INDI Alliance as reasons for this reluctance. The Congress party further contends that Kharge, as a senior leader, still has four years remaining in his term as a Rajya Sabha member and is preoccupied with his duties in the upper house. The BJP has dismissed Congress claims and instead suggests that Kharge's reluctance to contest from Kalaburagi stems from a fear of facing another defeat in the Lok Sabha election, following a previous loss from the same constituency. Additionally, the BJP MLA said several other prominent BJP leaders will also be visiting different Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka. National President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and other BJP leaders will be participating in these visits, he stated. Replying to a query, Kumar said the first list of BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka is expected to be released either tonight or tomorrow. The party has organized the state's 28 Lok Sabha constituencies into 8 clusters for the election campaign. Different strategies and programmes are being implemented in each cluster, taking into account the local political and geographical dynamics, Kumar said. Previously, BJP national leaders have visited these clusters for campaigning purposes. Amit Shah visited Mysuru, Shivraj Singh Chauhan visited Kalaburgi, JP Nadda visited Belagavi, and Devendra Fadnavis visited Mangaluru as part of these efforts, he said...////...