By Fakir Balaji,

Bangalore, Sep 2 (IANS) The Karnataka unit of the Congress is pulling out all stops to make the visit here Sunday of party president Sonia Gandhi a show of strength in the face of the squabbling in the coalition government of the Janata Dal-Secular and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Although Sonia's visit is meant to induct JD-S rebel leader Siddaramaiah into the party at a massive rally at the Royal Bangalore Palace grounds, Congress leaders are competing with each other to prove their own rallying power.

"This is the first time Sonia will be coming to Bangalore after the 2004 elections. We consider it a great opportunity to rejuvenate the party," said Mallikarjun Kharge, the Karnataka Congress unit president.

The Congress had lost the state elections in 2004 but managed to form a government. In January it was dethroned from its coalition government after JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy staged a coup and teamed up with BJP to wrest power and become chief minister.

While the firebrand Siddaramaiah, a former deputy chief minister, has his own axe to grind against JD-S chief and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, for suspending him and eight of his supporters from the party, the Congress feels the developments could lead to an early election it might be able to win.

According to party sources, the Congress rally Sunday is expected to see a turnout of 200,000-300,000 people.

The entry of Siddaramaiah will help the party to fortify its position across the state because Kurubas (community of shepherds to which Siddaramaiah belongs) constitute six percent of the electorate, Congress sources say.

In the run-up to the coming by-election in Chamundeshwari following Siddaramaiah's resignation from the assembly in July, the Congress has chalked out various programmes and campaigns to prevent the JD-S or even the BJP from wresting the constituency in the old Mysore region.

Though a fractured verdict in the May 2004 state elections had forced the Congress and the JD-S to form the government under then chief minister N. Dharam Singh to keep the "communal" BJP out of power, Gowda and sons had no hesitation in parting ways as there was no love lost between the two "secular" parties.

When Gowda agreed to form the coalition government with the Congress, he had maintained he would have no truck with the latter at the party level or in contesting elections. So when Siddaramaiah joined hands with second-rung Congress leaders to hold rallies in June-July last year, a peeved Gowda decided to boot him out.

After breaking away from the JD-S and forming the AIPJD, Siddaramaiah emerged as a force to reckon with even for the Congress by contesting the local bodies elections in December 2005 and winning a number of seats in the zilla and the taluk panchayats.

"I am joining the Congress without any rider. The Congress has not lured me. I will go to my people and explain why I left the JD-S. The party perished on the day Gowda allowed his son (Kumaraswamy) to join hands with the BJP to form the government here," Siddaramaiah told IANS.