VIJAYAPURA: With just three weeks left for the bypolls to Sindagi Assembly segment, the Bharatiya Janata Party has formed seven teams to prepare the ground for ensuring victory of its candidate Ramesh Bhusanur.
Of the seven teams, six are headed by a state Cabinet minister. Each team will be in charge of a zilla panchayat that comes under the Assembly segment. The bypoll was necessitated following the demise of MC Managuli (Janata Dal-Secular) earlier this year. BJP has fielded Bhusanur who lost to Managuli in the 2018 polls by a margin of 9,305 votes. A two-time MLA, Bhusanur will be contesting from Sindagi Assembly segment for the fourth consecutive time.
Former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, who is BJP in-charge of Sindagi bypolls, said that the party’s campaign plan has already been chalked out. "We are taking the ensuing byelection seriously. Ministers Govind Karjol, KS Eshwarappa, V Somanna, CC Patil, Byrathi Basavaraj and Shashikala Jolle have been made in-charge of a zilla panchayat falling under the Sindagi segment. Apart from this, elected representatives from Vijayapura and Kalaburagi will also campaign," he told The New Indian Express.
"At least four Cabinet ministers will campaign each day till the last day of campaigning. Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and CM Basavaraj Bommai will campaign for two days in Sindagi. We will win by a margin of 25,000 votes," Savadi added.
"The party has appointed Savadi to attract the Ganiga (a sub-sect of Lingayats) voters. The community has the lion's share in voting compared to other communities. Karjol has been given the responsibility of garnering SC votes, CC Patil and Shashikala Jolle to mobilise Lingayat votes, Eshwarappa and Byrathi Basavaraj to attract Kurubas... apart from this, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Yediyurappa are likely to be the star campaigners for the party," said a BJP source.
"In Sindagi, there is a direct fight between the Congress and BJP. In a surprise move, the Congress has fielded a Lingayat candidate (Ashok Managuli). In the past, they either fielded a Kuruba or a Minority community candidate. The Congress' approach will definitely divide the Lingayat votes. So, a big task ahead for the BJP is to mobilise the traditional Lingayat votes. By looking at the list of ministers appointed to campaign in Sindagi, it is clear that the party is eyeing the votes of all communities instead of depending on a single community," political analyst Gopal Naik told The New Indian Express.