Karnataka

BJP may find it tough to retain seat Key constituency: Bagalkot City

BAGALKOT: A resurgent Congress and the Janata Dal (S) and the rebel factor are likely to affect the chances of BJP in retaining the Bagalkot City Assembly seat.

Veeranna Charanthimath, educationist, won the seat on the BJP ticket last time. Mr. Charanthimath, known for his uprightness and straight forward nature, was responsible for making Bagalkot city a centre of education.

The Basaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangh, which he heads, runs a chain of educational institutions in Bagalkot and Belgaum districts. Mr. Charanthimath is a popular legislator and has taken up many development works in the constituency.

However, the presence of his one-time associate Prakash Tabshetty, chairman of Basaveshwar Bank, as a rebel candidate is proving to be a headache for Mr. Charanthimath. Political observers feel that Mr. Tabshetty’s presence would eat into the vote bank of Mr. Charanthimath, which might prove beneficial to the Congress and Janata Dal (S).

While the Janata Dal (S) has fielded a strong candidate in V.H. Pujar, a former MLA belonging to the Reddy community, the Congress has fielded another heavyweight in former Minister H.Y. Meti, belonging to the Kuruba community and a confidant of the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Mr. Pujar was the one who opened the account for the BJP in the district in 1999 by winning the Bagalkot City seat. But he quit the party after he was denied the ticket in 2004 Assembly elections and contested as an independent against Mr. Charanthimath. He lost by a margin of around 6,000 votes.

In the 2004 elections, Mr. Pujar was perceived as a BJP rebel and could not get much support from the minorities, but in this election he is contesting on the JD (S) ticket.

Mr. Meti, who won the Gulledgud seat in the 2004 elections on the JD (S) ticket was forced to shift to Bagalkot this time after the Gulledgud Assembly segment was eliminated in the delimitation exercise.

A respected leader among the Kuruba community, Mr. Meti presence in the fray has somewhat unnerved the BJP and JD (S) campaign managers.

The consolidation of the Kuruba community votes along with the Dalit and Muslim votes in favour of the Congress would be a major problem to both the BJP and JD (S) in the constituency.

BJP sources said the presence of Abbas Khan Mujawar (BSP) and Kutubuddinsab Khaji (Samajwadi Party) in the fray is likely to divide the minority votes, thereby brightening the party’s chances.

The last time the Congress won the Bagalkot Assembly seat was in 1978 when P.K. Kalligud emerged victorious.

In the 1983 elections, the seat was won by an independent candidate G.Y. Mantur. He retained the seat in 1985 as a Janata Party candidate, and in 1989 and 1994 elections the seat was won by V. Sarnayak of the Janata Dal.

In the 1999 and 2004 elections, the BJP emerged victorious.

The total number of voters in the constituency is 1,71,772.

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