KALABURAGI: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge is not contesting from the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency but he is putting all his might to win this SC-reserved seat, which he lost in the 2019 general elections. That shocking defeat dented his image as Solillada Saradara (one who has not tasted defeat). And to reclaim his reputation, Kharge has fielded his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani in Gulbara. For the octogenarian, Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) is his karma bhumi, which elected him 10 times to the Assembly and twice to the Lok Sabha.
Doddamani is also Kharge’s brother-in-law as he is the younger brother of Radhabai Kharge. In line with the popular saying in Hindi Sari duniya ek taraf, joru ka bhai ek taraf (The whole world is on one side, wife’s brother on the other side), Kharge has already addressed public gatherings twice in Kalaburagi in the past month, and is visiting again on April 24. The veteran leader gets daily updates from Doddamani, while his son Priyank Kharge and strong follower Dr Sharanaprakash Patil are sweating it out in the scorching summer heat to ensure victory.
The Congress has systematically planned Doddamani’s election campaign. While the party has claimed credit for implementing the five guarantees and amending Article 371-J for Kalyana Karnataka Region, Priyank and Sharanaprakash have been meeting caste groups and working classes separately.
Also, people are sympathetic towards Doddamani because of his soft manners and he is using the strategies that Kharge used to win Assembly and Parliament elections.
But the BJP is equally determined to retain the Gulbarga seat and has fielded the sitting MP Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Kharge in 2019. It was from Kalaburagi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the saffron party’s election campaign in Karnataka on March 16, the day the Election Commission of India announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule for the country.
However, Jadhav has to square off anti-incumbency. Sensing the mood against him for not being able to bring projects to Kalaburagi, PM Modi launched a mega textile park in the district last year and two direct trains between Bengaluru and Kalaburagi recently. During his tour of villages, Jadhav is seeking votes for his work as well as for Modi’s achievements.
Of the eight assembly constituencies in the Gulbarga LS constituency, six are represented by Congress MLAs. The remaining two are shared between the BJP and the JD(S).