BELAGAVI: The BJP and the Congress are eyeing a larger share of seats in the 18 Assembly segments of Belagavi in the 2023 polls, aware that the border district has always played a key role in the formation of state governments.
Headed by KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi, the Congress is building a stronger base in those Assembly seats held by the BJP. To scuttle Jarkiholi’s political strategies that could jeopardise the chances of BJP candidates in several of the 13 seats it holds in Belagavi, the BJP leadership is working on a counter-strategy to target him. Former minister Umesh Katti and MLA Abhay Patil are being named in charge of Jarkiholi’s Yamakanmardi constituency in an attempt to defeat him.
With 13 seats already in its kitty in Belagavi, the BJP is chalking out strategies to win most of the remaining five seats held by the Congress. To achieve its objective, the BJP leadership feels it is vital to tighten the noose around Jarkiholi who wields a huge following in most of the 18 Assembly segments. According to sources, the BJP is contemplating going all out in Yamakanmardi to defeat Jarkiholi in 2023, and is apparently trying to build pressure on him so that he confines himself to the said constituency.
Despite not coming to the Yamakanmardi constituency for campaigning during the last polls, Jarkiholi was able to pull off a victory, albeit by a slender margin of 3,000 votes, against his lesser-known BJP rival Maruti Ashtagi. Looking at its potential here, the BJP leadership has decided to strongly rally behind its candidate this time, leaving Jarkiholi in a vulnerable position.
On the other hand, Jarkiholi is confident of his fourth win in 2023 from Yamakanmardi, stating that his work would fetch him dividends. On the counter strategies planned by the BJP, Jarkiholi said the ruling party had been targeting him in Yamakanmardi for the last one year. “However, it is the job of respective political parties to strengthen themselves in various constituencies, and obviously, the BJP will work on it and the Congress also will do its part,” said Jarkiholi.
Priyanka, Jarkiholi’s daughter, is also seen as a potential candidate for the Congress in Yamakanmardi, but sources said he would not quit the constituency, and could make Priyanka contest the next polls. The BJP’s attempts to defeat Jarkiholi may not materialise given his popularity in the constituency. A long-drawn rivalry between the influential political families of Jarkiholis and Kattis in Belagavi will also have its impact on the elections. Each of them will also have to work out strategies to ensure that their rivalries would not play a spoilsport for them.