BELAGAVI: With stage set for a head-to-head contest between Mrinal Hebbalkar (Congress) and Jagadish Shettar (BJP) in Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency, both their families are girding their loins for a high-stake cliff-hanger on the cards.
Once a constituency which often changed the course of state’s politics, Belagavi has lost its sheen with family politics unexpectedly mobilising people’s support in recent times. Key issues like development, state and national affairs, policies, infrastructure, etc., have taken a backseat. Of the eight Assembly segments, five were won by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls and the remaining by the BJP.
Jagadish Shettar, a six-time MLA and former CM, is taking on a minnow in politics, Mrinal Hebbalkar, 31-year-old son of Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar. Both hail from the dominant Lingayat community.
His experience as CM, LoP, head of state BJP besides the caste makes the case of Shettar stronger in the fray. As to why BJP has chosen Shettar is because the segment has been a bastion of the BJP since early 2000s and the Angadi family won all the last five elections. Angadi’s daughter is Shettar’s daughter-in-law.
A section of BJP in Belagavi is upset over the party fielding Shettar, an “outsider”, who hails from Hubballi. However, Shettar told TNIE that the people and party leaders have accepted him in Belagavi and that the Modi factor will be a key issue in the polls.
On the other hand, a high voltage campaign of Mrinal in many parts of Belagavi has helped him gauge his popularity. As Mrinal is a debutant, his mother Laxmi Hebbalkar is spearheading the campaign. Her astute handling of the campaigns have helped her emerge as MLA twice and install her brother as MLC in recent times. “A win will take her (Laxmi Hebbalkar) to new heights in state politics and a loss will put her political career in the doldrums,’’ say political observers.
“Hebbalkar’s victory may also curtail the attempts of Jarkiholi brothers to gain a solid control over Belagavi politics. The woman is a giant killer but the Gokak brothers may go to extremes to safeguard their political ambitions,” observers feel.
Both Shettar and Mrinal are singularly trying to bolster their campaigns and their party and activists are not involved so actively. With both the parties involved in family politics, Laxmi Hebbalkar is in the forefront and not Mrinal or the other top leaders of the party in all the ongoing campaigns while Shettar himself is handling the campaign from the front with rebellion brewing in the party.
“The dominant Lingayat community, a supporter of the BJP traditionally, is seemingly divided between the two Lingayat candidates. The MES which bagged a sizable 1.17 lakh votes in the LS bypolls in 2021 in Belagavi has fielded a meek candidate, Mahadev Patil, which may prevent the votes of BJP from going to MES. Given the ground situation today, both the candidates should cross 5 lakh votes each and one of them will win or lose by 20,000 to 30,000 votes,” say a political expert.
When asked whether he would win the election, Shettar told TNIE that the entire country wants PM Narendra Modi to be at the helm of affairs for another decade and the people of Belagavi would vote for him. “I also have contributed a lot for the development of the Belagavi region as CM and leader of BJP over the years,’’ he added.
Laxmi Hebbalkar is confident of her son winning. She feels the Congress government’s performance and the guarantees which improved lives of people should come in handy for her. With a drastic development that took place in her Belagavi rural assembly segment, she said, her son would continue doing the same as an MP if he won.
In an ongoing cold war between the influential political families of Laxmi Hebbalkar and the Jarkiholi brothers to gain control over political affairs of Belagavi, Laxmi got her brother elected as MLC recently and is now keen on having son Mrinal as MP. The Jarkiholi brothers (two BJP MLAs, one Independent MLC, one Cong MLA) may work in tandem to ensure defeat of Mrinal.
The BJP wants a firm control on Belagavi seat by continuing its winning streak. It largely depends on the ‘Modi factor’ and the dominant Lingayat community.