KALABURAGI: Though All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge is not contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Gulbarga (SC Reserve) constituency, people in the northern Karnataka district believe that this time too it is a political battle between Kharge and incumbent MP, Dr Umesh Jadhav (BJP). Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law, Radhakrishna Dodmani, is the Congress candidate from the constituency.
Radhakrishna, popularly known as ‘RK’ in political circles, is making his debut in electoral politics. Hailing from Gundgurti village in Chittapur taluk of Kalaburgi district, Radhakrishna is a B.Com graduate and was instrumental in the success of his father-in-law in almost all his previous elections. Radhakrishna is a known face among the Congress leaders and workers, but he is a stranger to the people of the constituency. He has so far never addressed any election rallies.
Gulbarga, which was a general category constituency until 2009, was considered a “safe seat” for the Congress, with the party winning 15 of the 18 Lok Sabha polls. However, that changed in the 1996 and 1998 polls, with Qamarul Islam of the Janata Dal and Basavaraj Patil Sedam of the BJP getting elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and 1998, respectively. But, again in 1999 and 2004, the constituency elected Congress candidate Iqbal Ahmed Saradagi, who is Kharge’s classmate.
In 2009, Kharge entered national politics by contesting from Gulbarga for the first time after it became a SC Reserve constituency. He defeated the BJP’s Revu Naik Belamagi by a margin of 13,404 votes, which increased to 74,733 votes in the 2014 elections.
Kharge tasted defeat for the first time in his political life at the hands of BJP candidate Dr Umesh Jadhav in the 2019 LS polls by a margin of 95,452 votes. Dr Jadhav was earlier a Congress MLA from Chincholi constituency.
The Congress banks mostly on bringing amendments to Article 371 J of the Constitution for Kalyana Karnataka as about 10,000 youths from the region, including those from Kalaburagi district, got admission into medical colleges and nearly 1 lakh students in engineering colleges of the region in the last 10 years. The Congress claims the credit for establishing ESIC Medical College, Central University of Karnataka, Trauma Care Hospital, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, and the Kalaburagi Bench of the High Court in Kalaburagi.
On its part, the BJP claims of launching a mega textile park in Kalaburagi, which will give direct employment to 1 lakh people and indirect employment to 2 lakh people. It also claims credit for starting a direct Vande Bharat Express from Kalaburagi to Bengaluru and another weekly express train between the two cities.
Ironically, none of the parties have evolved a formula to safeguard the people of the constituency, who face droughts or floods almost every year. The farmers are not getting remunerative prices for tur, which is a major crop in the district. The migration of farm laborers is also rampant.
The Assembly segments that come under this constituency are Chittapur, Gulbarga-North, Gulbarga-South, Gulbarga-Rural, Sedam, Jewargi, and Afzalpur of Kalaburagi district, and Gurmitkal of Yadgir district.
According to a survey, over 7 lakh voters are Lingayats, 2 lakh belong to the Lambani community, 3.5 lakh hail from the Backward Classes, 3 lakh are Dalits, 3 lakh are Muslims, and the remaining belong to other castes/communities.
“While the Congress enjoys the support of Dalits, Minorities, and, to some extent, Backward Classes, the BJP enjoys the support of the Upper Castes, Lambanis, Backward Classes, and SC (Left),” opined a political pundit.