Neglect of Lingayat netas, a campaign by brass boomerangs on saffron party
BELAGAVI: Even as the BJP national and state leadership resorted to all possible political and personal campaigns in the Kittur Karnataka region, where 56 seats were at stake, the party finally put up a miserable show and Congress went on to win 37 seats. In the process, several so-called top guns of BJP lost and the party ended up winning just 18 seats.
The post-poll analysis indicated that the BJP’s decision to remove BS Yediyurappa as CM, neglect former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi boomeranged on the party in this Lingayat heartland. An upset dominant Lingayat community dumped BJP and rallied behind Congress. A convincing victory by Vinay Kulkarni, who was projected as the Lingayat-Panchamasali face of Congress against Amrut Desai of BJP (Lingayat), showed how Lingayat votes swung from BJP to Congress in the Dharwad constituency. A similar shift also helped Congress win Badami, Hungund, Bilagi, Mudhol and many other seats in Haveri, Gadag, Bagalkot and Vijayapura.
Several leaders in the region felt issues like hijab, halal, jhatka cut and Bajrang Dal backfired on the party. BJP’s decision to bank on rallies and roadshows by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to divert people’s attention from core issues also failed to bolster BJP’s prospects, they said.
Among prominent BJP leaders who have bitten the dust in the region include Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani and Minister BC Patil. However, Vijayapura sitting MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal emerged the winner despite his communal campaigns.
CM Basavaraj Bommai, who faced a weak Congress rival in Yasirahmed Khan Pathan in Shiggaon, won by a margin of around 36,000 votes. Also, five candidates from Belagavi registered landslide victories, winning by a margin of over 50,000 votes. They are, Laxmi Hebbalkar from Belagavi Rural, Laxman Savadi from Athani, Satish Jarkiholi from Yamakanamardi, Ganesh Hukkeri from Chikkodi, all from Congress and Vittal Halgekar of BJP from Khanapur.