Bengaluru: In September 2021, the Bharatiya Janata Get together recorded a thumping victory within the Belagavi Metropolis Company elections, successful 35 of the physique’s 58 seats.
The victory, which got here lower than two months after Basavaraj Bommai took over as chief minister of the state, was a shot within the arm for the BJP, particularly given the place that Belagavi, and the Kittur-Karnataka area, holds in Karnataka’s politics.
The BJP hailed it because the ‘heralding’ of a brand new order.
“This was virtually like a pattern take a look at of electoral efficiency after one month of my taking up the workplace of the chief minister,” Bommai had informed the media at the moment although his get together had misplaced elections in Hubballi-Dharwad by simply three seats.
Two years later, nonetheless, Kittur-Karnataka — a area made up of Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Gadag and Haveri — may show to be BJP’s achilles’ heel.
Not solely is the get together combating the dual challenges of infighting and anti-incumbency within the area, however there are actually different issues — chief amongst them the lack of two Lingayat heavyweights, Laxman Savadi and Jagadish Shettar, to the Congress.
“Savadi can affect 11-15 seats,” one highly-placed supply within the Congress who didn’t need to be named informed ThePrint, including that in case of Shettar too, “it was self-inflicted suicide”.
The BJP, nonetheless, maintains that their leaving wouldn’t have an effect on the get together.
“Regardless of who leaves the get together, there will probably be no harm to us,” Bommai informed reporters after they joined the Congress. “The get together has the power to make adjustments and digest them. We all know the plight of those that left our get together for an additional and their state at this time. At some point even these leaders will repent.”
On his half, former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the BJP’s tallest Lingayat chief, mentioned that the folks of the state received’t forgive them.
“The entire get together is sad relating to the choice of two senior most leaders within the state. The folks of Karnataka won’t forgive them and train them a lesson within the elections. I’ll go to the areas of those leaders and clarify to the folks about their betrayal. It’s unlucky,” he informed reporters.
Why Kittur-Karnataka is necessary
Previously often known as the Mumbai-Karnataka area, the Kittur-Karnataka area is the northernmost a part of the state that shares a border with Maharashtra. Other than the six districts talked about above, some elements of Uttara Kannada, similar to Karwar, Yellapur, Khanapur and Haliyal, are typically counted as being a part of the Kittur-Karnataka area.
House to many sturdy Lingayat leaders, together with Yediyurrapa and Bommai, Kittur-Karnataka is politically important because of the group’s dominant presence.
In 2021, the Bommai authorities renamed the area Kittur-Karnataka from Mumbai Karnataka in an try and solid off all residual references to its historical past of being a part of the Bombay presidency earlier than the reorganisation of states in 1956.
At the moment, Kittur-Karnataka sends as much as 50 MLAs to the 224-member home and is taken into account a BJP stronghold — within the 2018 meeting elections, the BJP received 30 seats right here.
Nevertheless, regardless of being a Lingayat stronghold, the area continues to share shut cultural ties with Maharashtra and has a big Marathi-speaking inhabitants.
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a regional political get together, has been spearheading a marketing campaign to merge the area’s dominant Marathi-speaking areas with Maharashtra — a sore level for Karnataka.
Though the organisation has steadily misplaced clout to events just like the BJP and the Congress, fissures between the 2 linguistic teams proceed to stay, permitting outfits like Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Get together (NCP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to contest elections in these elements and hold the problem alive.
On account of its shut cultural ties with Maharashtra, the area is a frequent witness to frame disputes and flare-ups, the newest one being in December final 12 months.
It’s this political dichotomy that would proceed to be a problem to the BJP. On its half, the get together has been making an attempt to unite Marathas and Lingayats below the bigger umbrella of Hindu and Hindutva, political observers from the area informed ThePrint.
Congress wooing Lingayats
However regardless of BJP’s makes an attempt to retain its maintain on the area, challenges proceed. As an example, the get together almost misplaced Belagavi to the Congress within the 2021 Lok Sabha by-polls — its candidate Mangala Angadi beat Congress’s Satish Jarkhiholi by a slim margin of simply over 5,000 votes.
These issues might be exacerbated by the lack of Savadi and Shettar, Congress leaders say.
Savadi joined the Congress on 14 April. 4 days later, Shettar joined him.
Each had been leaders in their very own proper and had been thought of near state in addition to central leaders. Whereas Shettar served as chief minister between 2012 and 2013, Savadi was deputy chief minister between 2019 and 2021.
Whereas the Congress is fielding Savadi from Athani, the place he’ll face BJP’s sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, Shettar will contest the election from Hubballi-Dharwad Central.
The BJP, which is pushing for a second time period in workplace — one thing no get together has managed to do within the state because the Nineteen Eighties — has maintained that this improvement won’t have an effect on its prospects.
“The BJP has grown on the backs of staff and other people and has the power to cope with such points. We’re doing all we will to additional strengthen our maintain on the northern, southern and different elements of the state,” Bommai informed reporters final Monday, referring to Shettar’s exit.
A piece of the Congress additionally agrees, saying that whereas Shettar is an enormous chief within the area, his affect is just not as vast as Savadi.
“Shettar’s exit has rattled the BJP however there’s no actual bearing on the bottom,” one Congress legislator who didn’t need to be named informed ThePrint.
Nonetheless, each leaders may show to be belongings for the Congress, which has been making an attempt to woo Lingayats. The get together tried to accommodate extra Lingayats leaders from this area, fielding 51 candidates for this election. It has additionally made M.B Patil, one other Lingayat chief, chairman of its marketing campaign committee, appointed Eshwar Khandre as its working president and has given a ticket to 91-year-old Lingayat chief Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
“Congress has additionally understood the significance of the Lingayats. Now, the get together is completely satisfied that Lingayats will vote for us and we should always give them due illustration,” Patil informed The Print in an earlier interview.
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Political fiefdoms
The land of the Lingayats can be dwelling to some very influential political households, chief amongst them the Jarkiholi, the Kattis and the Jolles.
Arguably, essentially the most influential of those is the Jarikholis, a household of sugar barons that has an iron grip over Belagavi and the encircling areas.
The Jarkholi brothers are recognized to place their curiosity earlier than their get together’s — actually, it was pushback from them towards D.Ok. Shivakumar’s alleged interference within the functioning of Belagavi district that’s continuously cited as being the explanation for the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress authorities in 2019.
Whereas Ramesh, a former minister within the Yediyurappa cupboard, and his brother Balachandra Jarkoholi are BJP legislators, Satish is the working president of the Karnataka Congress and is counted amongst its tallest leaders.
In December 2021, when the final brother, Lakhan Jarkiholi, stood for elections within the state’s higher home, Vidhana Parishad, as an impartial candidate, Ramesh overtly supported him towards the BJP’s official candidate, Mahantesh Kavatagimath.
It was additionally his interference in ticket distribution that led to Savadi quitting the BJP — he warned the get together in March that he wouldn’t contest the election until his aide, sitting Athani MLA Mahesh Kumatahalli, was fielded from the seat.
There are additionally different influential political households within the area. The BJP has fielded Nikhil Katti, son of late cupboard minister Umesh Katti, from Hukkeri constituency. His father, eight-time Hukkeri legislator Umesh Katti, who died of cardiac arrest in September final 12 months, entered politics in 1985 after the loss of life of his father Vishwanath Katti, a Janata Dal legislator.
Additionally from the area is Shashikala Jolle, the spouse of Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, the incumbent BJP Member of Parliament from Chikkodi. A minister within the Bommai authorities and sitting MLA from Nippani constituency, Jolle, who was booked final month for violating the mannequin code of conduct, is being fielded from the seat but once more.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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