Belagavi: In a clash of the titans, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address rallies in Babaleshwar constituency in Vijayapura district on Tuesday, barely 5 kms away from where his arch rival and former Congress president, Sonia Gandhi is expected to address a rally the same day.

While Mr Modi will begin his rally in Sarwad village at 11 am, Mrs Sonia Gandhi's will kick off at 3 pm. Going by Minister M B Patil and AICC secretary, Manikam Tagore, who addressed a joint press conference in Vijayapura on Monday, over two lakh people are expected for Mrs Gandhi's rally being organsied on the city's outskirts.





Sources in the BJP said Mr Modi was expected to confront the Congress party for projecting Mr Patil as an alternative to his party’s Lingayat leader, and state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa through the movement for a separate religion tag for the community.

“Mrs Gandhi’s campaign is not being organised here by the Congress for fear of Mr Modi's rally. It was her choice to address a rally in Vijayapura. I feel honoured to know that Mt Modi too is campaigning in my constituency of Bableshwar,'' the Minister said.

Asked about the Prime Minister’s recent statements on the Mahadayi dispute, he said people were intelligent enough to understand his “drama” on the issue
Meanwhile, the Mr Patil revealed that Kannada filmstar, Yash was campaigning in Babaleshwar for the Congress and would not campaign for the BJP as rumoured.