BALLARI: Ballari, known for its iron ore mines, will witness a closely fought contest between former BJP minister B Sriramulu and four-time MLA from Sandur, E Tukaram, of the Congress. The constituency is reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes after delimitation in 2008.
For Sriramulu, who lost from Ballari in the 2023 Assembly elections to B Nagendra of the Congress, winning the constituency is a matter of prestige.
The constituency has eight Assembly segments, of which six were won by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls. The BJP and JDS, who are in alliance now, had won a seat each.
The constituency, which has over 6 lakh ST voters, also has a considerable population of Lingayats, Minorities, and Kurubas, who play a significant role in electing the MP.
Before being reserved for the STs, the Ballari Lok Sabha constituency had remained a bastion of the Congress as it had won all the General Elections between 1952 and 1999. The decline of the Grand Old Party began in the 2000s with the emergence of the BJP and the Reddy Brothers. The saffron party has held the seat in all four General Elections held since 2004, except for its defeat in the 2018 by-election. The constituency shot into the limelight in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections after former Congress president Sonia Gandhi defeated former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Fast-forward to 2024, Sriramulu, a tall ST community leader, will take on Sandur MLA, E Tukaram, who is banking on the Congress State Government’s guarantee schemes to emerge victorious.
The BJP, however, is not comfortably placed, as it has just one MLA from the constituency. Krishna Nayaka was the lone BJP candidate who won from the district in the 2023 Assembly polls. Former minister and former mining baron, Gali Janardhana Reddy, quitting the BJP to float his own party ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls, was a major factor in the BJP’s poor show. Now, with Reddy back in the party, the BJP looks to retain the Ballari LS seat that it won in 2019. Reddy, MLA from Gangavathi in Koppal district, however, cannot campaign in Ballari as the Supreme Court has barred him from entering the district in connection with an illegal mining case.
The Congress, however, hopes to continue with its good run after the party won six of the eight Assembly segments in 2023.
Though there was a delay in announcing its candidate, the party has set its camp right, with all leaders working to ensure Tukaram’s victory. The BJP hopes that Sriramulu, apart from attracting ST voters, will also get the backing of the Lingayats. On the other hand, the Congress says that Tukaram has the strong backing of the Minorities, Kurubas, SCs, and others.
Sriramulu is also playing the sympathy card, saying that he lost last year’s Assembly elections despite bringing in several developmental works to the district. “Apart from banking on PM Modi’s charisma, Sriramulu is also playing with people’s minds, saying that Tukaram’s victory would lead to a bypoll for the Sandur seat,” a political expert said.
Tukaram is betting on the performance of the Siddarmaiah government and its success in implement