The Shiggaon seat has been won by the chief minister thrice since 2008 when he joined the BJP after quitting the JDS. The Congress had fielded former MLA Khadri Syed Azempeer Syed Kadar Basha who lost to Bommai thrice with a margin of around 10,000 votes in the past three assembly elections. The Congress thus decided to field a fresh face and a strong Muslim leader against Bommai to take on the issues of Muslim rights and freedom and how the BJP mismanaged the community’s trust, say party sources.
Shiggaon is an assembly seat that has close to 2.14 lakh voters of which both Lingayats and Muslims comprise close to 75,000 voters each. Another 20,000 voters belong to the Kuruba community, 20,000 to the SC category, and around 17,000 to the ST category.
Until the previous election in 2018, Bommai enjoyed the support of the Muslim community apart from the Lingayat votes in the community to which he belongs. However, with the BJP raising its pitch against Hijab, Halal and the most recent decision by the Bommai government to remove the four per cent reservation allotted to Muslims to accommodate the demands of a higher reservation by the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, there may be an impact on the voting pattern in this crucial seat.
According to political analyst SA Hemanth, Savanur is a formidable challenger. “This time, Muslims are going to vote en mass for Congress and will not be distracted by SDPI as the Muslims have realised that SDPI cuts into Congress votes to help BJP. Muslims will vote for that party which can defeat BJP and come to power,” said Hemanth.
The analyst is of the view that three major issues will make Muslims vote for the Congress. “First, scrapping the four per cent Muslim reservation and giving it to two dominant communities belonging to Hindus — Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Second, banning of cow slaughter, which according to Muslims, is a direct onslaught on their food habits as well as on their employment. Third is the Hijab issue which has deprived thousands of girls from going to schools, especially in coastal Karnataka. While these three issues have brought Muslims together, it, however, has not united the Hindus,” said Hemanth.
The Grand Old Party is hoping to cash in on the growing discontent of Muslims against the BJP. A section of Panchamali Lingayats who are upset that their demand for a separate religious status has not been met by the current dispensation may also swing in favour of the Congress.
Several North Karnataka-based Congress leaders whom News18 spoke to said Savanur is a strong contender against Bommai as he holds considerable sway in the Hubli-Dharwad region. He is a two-time elected president of the Anjuman-E-Islam in Hubli and has good support within the community.
Savanur was among the strong contenders for the Hubli-Dharwad central seat for the Congress. However, as the drama surrounding Shettar’s defection to the Congress unfolded, he was allotted the Hubli seat. He then had to be accommodated by giving him a ticket to contest from Shiggaon against Bommai.
“He has an uphill task and if he manages to defeat Bommai, he will be known as the giant slayer. But the fight will be a tough one as the chief minister’s hold is also strong,” said a Hubli district BJP leader.
The Congress had been convincing former minister Vinay Kulkarni, a Panchmasali Lingayat leader, to contest from Shiggaon, but he was more interested in contesting from the Dharwad constituency.
The Congress was looking to split the Panchamsali votes from the BJP and lure them towards the Congress, thus diminishing Bommai’s chances. The Congress even had a back-up plan. They assured Kulkarni that he would be made an MLC and minister even if he lost against Bommai.
But now Kulkarni is caught in a fix. He has been barred from entering and campaigning in his own constituency by the Special Court of People’s Representatives in Bengaluru. He is an accused in the murder case of BJP Zilla Panchayat member Yogesh Gowda.
The Congress leader had filed a petition seeking permission to enter the district, but it was denied by the judge on Tuesday as the court held that even the Supreme Court had refused to let him enter Dharwad in an order.
In the Hubli-Dharwad Central seat, former Karnataka CM Shettar managed to get a ticket from the Congress to the seat he was denied by the BJP. Shettar was extremely upset and disgruntled after having been asked to step aside by the BJP and not contest from the Hubli-Dharwad seat. A pained man, he joined the Congress to make a point to the BJP that he was not one to give up.
The BJP has fielded Mahesh Tenginakayi from the seat that Shettar has won six times since 1994. Tenginakayi holds the post of general secretary in the state unit and is known to have been a close associate of Shettar.
Holding a media briefing in Hubli, Shettar alleged SA Ramdas, another senior BJP leader, was also sidelined and denied a ticket because the candidates that were given (Hubli-Dharwad Central) and Krishnaraja had close ties with BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh. He further said those who were loyal to Santhosh were promoted, sacrificing many senior leaders.
Tenginkayi, however, brushed aside Shettar’s allegations. “Jagadish Shettar is my guru and I have worked with him in six elections and learnt from him for the past 30 years. It has not become a fight between guru and ‘shishya’ and I hope my guru blesses me,” he said on facing the election against his mentor.
The Congress’s fourth list, which consisted of seven more candidates for the 224-member-strong Karnataka assembly, also gave the Chikkamgaluru ticket to HD Thammaiah, once a close aide of BJP’s heavyweight leader and national general secretary CT Ravi.
Thammaiah had sought a BJP ticket for the very seat that his close friend Ravi had been elected on four times since 2004. On being denied a ticket, Thammaiah quit the BJP and now the Congress has fielded him from the seat against Ravi.
Durgappa S Hoolageri will contest from the Lingsugur constituency on a Congress ticket, Deepak Chinchore from Hubli-Dharwad west assembly seat, Nandagavi Srinivas from Harihar and MA Gopalswamy from Sravanabelagola.
Read all the Latest Politics News here
Comments
0 comment