LS polls: Belgaum BJP MP in a muddle

BJP MP from Belgaum Suresh Angadi who has been renamed party’s candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections has entered into an avoidable controversy. He has drawn flak from his own party men besides the opposition parties.

There has been demand from some quarters that Angadi should not be given BJP ticket this time, though chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has asserted that there was no question of changing the party’s candidate.

Meanwhile, A B Patil, an aspirant for the Congress ticket has denied that he would be joining Janata Dal (S). At a meeting of his supporters held at Belgaum, he said he has sought the Congress ticket but would not quit the party at any cost. Former MP Amarsinha Patil is another aspirant for the Congress ticket from Belgaum constituency. However, he faces opposition from within his own party. Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi is said to be opposing Amarsinh’s candidature. Laxmi Hebbalkar is also in the race for the ticket.

Congress which held the fort in Belgaum from 1957 to 1996 without break lost it in 1996 when Shivanand Koujalagi of Janata Dal defeated BJP’s Babagouda Patil and Congress nominee Prabhakar Kore. B N Datar (1957,1962), H V Koujalagi (1963 by-election), N M Nabisab (1967), A K Kotrashetty (1971,1977), S B Sidnal (1980,1984,1989, 1991) had ensured that the Congress dominated the constituency. Farmers’ leader Babagouda Patil who was unsuccessful in 1991 and 1996 won the seat in 1998 as BJP nominee only to lose in 1999 to Amarsinh Patil of Congress. Babagouda has now joined Congress. Suresh Angadi (BJP) won the seat in 2004 against Amarsinh Patil.

The constituency drew the attention of entire nation during 1996 elections with a record 455 candidates entering the fray. Post-delimitation the constituency has Belgaum Rural, Belgaum urban and Belgaum South in place of Uchagaon, Bangalore City and Bagewadi. The other assembly segments in the constituency are Arabhavi, Gokak, Ramadurga, Bailhongal and Soudatti.

Congress has three MLAs while BJP has five in the constituency. Suresh Angadi is in a fix now with the Maharastra Ekikarana Samiti (MES) pressing him to hoist the Bhagwa flag atop the Belgaum Municipal Corporation building and making it a pre-condition to support him in the election. Angadi has incurred the wrath of Pro-Kannada organizations too.

The Congress wants to take advantage of the situation and wrest the seat from the BJP. Supporters of A B Patil argue that he belongs to Panchamasali Lingayat community who constitute a large chunk of electorate.

The Panchamasalis among Lingayats feel that the Banajiga Lingayats have had a more than fair share as most Lingayat MLAs from the district are Banajigas. “A B Patil has influence not only in Belgaum but also in Bagalkot. If he is given ticket it will help the Congress candidate in the neighbouring constituencies also” said a supporter. Amarsinh Patil belongs to Kuruba community which also has large number of voters.

The constituency has a total of 13,52,796 voters (6,85,771 men and 6,67,025 women) and there are 1367 polling stations.