BELAGAVI: From engineering the fall of the Congress-JDS coalition government that paved the way for the BS Yediyurappa regime, Ramesh Jarkiholi has proved his credentials as a leader with a difference.
Many of his associates consider the shrewd and far-sighted ‘Gokak Sahukar’, as the former minister is locally known, the automatic choice to become the second-in-command in the state government. This is because of his unrelenting efforts as a Congress rebel since September 2018 to guide BJP to power crossing all the legal and political hurdles, along with his team of sulking legislators.
Ever since their foray into electoral politics in early 2000, the Jarkiholi brothers of Gokak, mainly Ramesh, have emerged stronger politically in the state to such an extent today that they are powerful enough to bring a state government down or install one. “It was a strategy by Arabhavi MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi that brought the BJP-JDS government down to prevent Yediyurappa from becoming Chief Minister then.
And now, it is Ramesh Jarkiholi who brought the H D Kumaraswamy government down and then went on to guide BJP to form a government,’’ said Munna Bagwan, a close family friend of the Jarkiholis, while adding that 10 years down the line, Jarkiholis may become so strong politically that they would “virtually control state politics”.
Despite his disqualification from the state assembly and his disappearance from his constituency for almost a year since September 2018, Ramesh proved that he is the most-popular leader Gokak by winning the seat by a huge margin of 29,006 votes in the bypolls on Monday.
According to sources, the BJP is keen to grant Ramesh key positions and portfolios in the Yediyurappa government besides naming his as a deputy chief minister.
Won ‘Dharma Yuddha’: Ramesh
Victorious BJP candidate Ramesh Jarkiholi said he won a dharma Yuddha. Reacting to Laxmi Hebbalkar’s statement on Mahesh Kumthalli, he advised her to “act like a woman, not as a man”. “Political power is not permanent in my life. The MLA post is for only five years, not for a hundred. She better realise this,” he said.