Multiple factors contribute to BJP wins in Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapura

BJP nominees Jagadish Shettar, Ramesh Jigajinagi and Parvatagouda C. Gaddigoudar have won from Belagavi, Vijayapura and Bagalkot Lok Sabha constituencies. The reasons for their success, however, are varied and not uniform.

Mr. Shettar has secured more than 55% of the polled votes of over 13 lakh. He obtained 7,56,471 votes and defeated Congress nominee Mrunal Hebbalkar by a margin of 1,75,574 votes. Mr. Hebbalkar, son of Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, managed to poll 5,80,897 votes in his maiden attempt, around 42% of the polled votes.

It seems that the decades-long experience of Mr. Shettar, a seasoned politician and a former Chief Minister, helped him design his strategy. It also helped him overcome the handicap of not getting the support of local BJP leaders like Ramesh Katti, Prabhakar Kore, Mahantesh Kavatagimath, Eeranna Kadadi, among others.

These leaders held a meeting against his selection as candidate and urged the party to change the nominee. Though they were disciplined by the party, most of them were not as active as they used to be in the earlier elections.

Mr. Shettar was helped by pro-Hindutva sentiment among communities like the Maratha and Lingayat and minor OBCs like Vishwakarma and Medar.

A surprise element that seemed to have worked in his favour was Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti candidate Mahadev Patil who took only 9,425 votes. In comparison, Shubham Shelke, MES candidate who fought Mangala Angadi, polled over 1.4 lakh votes in the 2021 bypolls.

MES is a city-based local party that has been advocating the merger of Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking areas with Maharashtra. Its vote base is said to consist largely of Marathi-speaking communities, including Marathas. However, the outlook of the Maratha youth that local issues should be considered only for Assembly polls, seem to have reduced the number of votes polled by Mr. Patil.

Mr. Shettar was helped by the relentless campaign by Ramesh Jarkiholi and his brothers who have long-standing political rivalry against Ms. Hebbalkar. Ramesh Jarkiholi, who came to the counting centre to congratulate Mr. Shettar, said that it was Ms. Hebbalkar’s ego that had defeated her. Added to that were the wrongdoings of D.K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister. He practices politics of vengeance. That has led to these results,” the former Minister and BJP MLA from Gokak, said.

However, the Jarkiholi brothers, Ramesh Jarkiholi and Balachandra Jarkiholi and MLC Lakhan Jarkiholi, were not seen in the BJP campaign in Chikkodi, where their niece Priyanka Jarkiholi, was fighting as a Congress nominee. Asked about it, Balachandra Jarkiholi said they did not go to Chikkodi as no one invited them.

Easily accessible

As expected, the image of being easily accessible leaders helped Mr. Jigajinagi and Mr. Gaddigoudar win the polls. Party affiliation has not mattered much in the four-decade-long electoral life of Mr. Jigajinagi. This is his seventh Lok Sabha victory. He is the only leader from Karnataka to win from two constituencies from three parties. He has been an MLA three times earlier. Of the 10 polls he has fought, he has lost only once.

Mr. Jigajinagi, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes left hand section, defeated Hanumath R (Raju) Alagur, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes right hand section. Mr. Jijajinagi, a former Union Minister, polled over 52% of the votes. He secured 6,72,781 votes and won by a margin of 77,229 votes. Mr. Alagur , a former professor of humanities, secured 5,95,552 votes.

Mr. Gaddigoudar, whose campaign was the most silent among North Karnataka leaders, won by a margin of 68,399 votes against Samyukta Patil of the Congress. Ms. Patil is the daughter of Shivanand Patil, Minister and Congress leader. Mr. Gaddigoudar secured 6,71,039 votes against Ms. Patil’s 6,02,640 votes.

The Congress was a divided house in Bagalkot as MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar stayed away from the campaign after the party denied ticket to his wife Veena Kashappanavar. Ms. Kashappanavar had lost to Mr. Gaddigoudar in the last elections.