BELAGAVI: Belagavi, once a stronghold of the BJP, is now turning into a forte of the Congress. By sidelining senior leaders and giving importance to those from outside the district, the BJP paid a heavy price in the 2023 Assembly elections. Of the 18 constituencies in the district, the BJP just managed to win seven seats. It also lost three MLC seats.
Before the 2023 Assembly polls, the BJP had 13 MLAs and three MLCs from the district. According to political analysts, the saffron party has failed to take any corrective measures to regain the lost ground in the border district. And, the party has committed the same mistakes while announcing candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP dropped its sitting Belagavi MP Mangala Angadi and fielded former chief minister Jagadish Shettar. Shettar, who had quit the BJP ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls and joined the Congress and became an MLC, returned to the saffron party this January. Shettar, who was an MLA from Dharwad district, is considered by many in Belagavi as an outsider. Now, it will be quite interesting to see if the saffron party will make a comeback in Belagavi in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP’s roller coaster ride in Belagavi began in 2019 when three Congress MLAs, including former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, quit the Grand Old Party and joined the saffron party. This ultimately led to the collapse of the JDSCongress government in the state and helped BS Yediyurappa become the chief minister.
BJP loyalists, however, expressed displeasure as the turncoats were made ministers. The differences in the BJP continued even during the 2023 Assembly elections after tickets were given to ‘outsiders’. The party fielded Chikka Revanna, a fresh face, from the Ramdurg Assembly segment, sidelining sitting MLA Mahadevappa Yadwad citing his age. Similarly, the party did not give tickets to former DyCM Laxman Savadi from Athani, party loyalist Raju Kage from Kagwad, former MLA Sanjay Patil from Belagavi Rural, and Maruti Ashtagi from Yamkanmardi.
This resulted in many leaders like Savadi quitting the BJP and joining the Congress. Similarly, senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore was not renominated to the Upper House citing his age. Meanwhile, BJP workers in Belagavi are in a state of shock as the state leadership continues to sideline local leaders and rely on PM Narendra Modi’s charisma to win the polls.
Now, all eyes are on the results on June 4 to know if the BJP will succeed in its political calculations and win its onetime stronghold of Belagavi.