BELAGAVI: Two politically strong families from Belagavi district whose members had contested the Lok Sabha elections got a reality check this time as voters, even from the Assembly constituencies represented by their family, did not go with these candidates.
Some said it could be because these families took voters from their home constituencies for granted that cost them dear.
Women and Child Welfare Minister’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar contested on a Congress ticket from Belagavi, while Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka from Chikkodi. The party’s decision proved right in Chikkodi, but failed miserably in Belagavi.
Mrinal Hebbalkar lost to BJP candidate and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar by 1,78,437 votes. Of the eight Assembly segments in this constituency, Belagavi Rural is represented by Laxmi Hebbalkar. She had won from this constituency by a margin of over 56,000 votes in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The family was confident that Mrinal would get a lead of at least 50,000 votes from this constituency. But to their shock, the voters rejected the family and Shettar got a big lead of 50,529 votes here.
Nippani backfires for Jolle family
Another political family from the district too faced a similar situation. Sitting BJP MP Annsaheb Jolle lost to debutante Priyanka Jarkiholi in Chikkodi by 90,834 votes. Of the eight Assembly seats in the constituency, Nippani is represented by Annasaheb Jolle’s wife, Shashikala. In the Assembly elections last year, she had won against NCP member Uttam Patil with a margin of over 7,000 votes. The Jolle family, however, was in for a shock as Priyanka got a big lead of 29,752 votes in the Nippani assembly segment alone. This is proof again that voters choose differently in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.