Youngsters vie for JD(S) ticket

The exodus of several senior leaders from the party and the popular belief that the Janata Dal (S) may not fare well in the forthcoming elections to the assembly has not deterred party ticket seekers in Dharwad district.

They are going all out to impress the party leadership and secure party nomination at the hustings. The aspirants, most of them youngsters, are banking on their clout in the constituency plus the traditional party votes.

While admitting that the Janata Dal (S) may not get the required numbers to form a government on its own, the aspirants believe it would be a hung assembly again and the party would play a decisive role in forming the government.

Most JD(S) legislators in the dissolved assembly could become ministers in the two coalitions while that was not the case with either the Congress or BJP. This time too they feel the same situation would arise and hope to reap the benefits.

While former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy stated that the party would concentrate on South Karnataka which gave JD(S) good results, his father and former prime minister and JD(S) supreme H D Deve Gowda is touring North Karnataka bargaining for support.

The delimitation does not seem to have affected the JD(S) much as it had not won even a single seat in the district in 2004. But defection of some leaders after the elections has changed the equation in the district.

Former MLAs A B Desai, P C Siddanagoudar and Shivanand Ambadagatti have joined the JD(S) and that has given the party some strength. The Dharwad district has seven constituencies following the delimitation.

President of Dharwad City JD(S) Basaveshwar (Babanna) Agadi who contested the 2004 polls as an independent is an aspirant for the Dharwad constituency which has Gadag, Amminabhavi circles and part of Dharwad city. He relies on his clout and party votes. As a corporator Agadi has to his credit several pro-people works.

Former MLA A B Desai's son and ZP member Amrut Desai is also vying for the ticket claiming that his family's clout in the rural areas would fetch him votes. ZP member Narendra Nijanagouda Patil is another contender.

Youngster Ismail Tamatagar is banking on support of the minorities and backward classes in Hubli-Dharwad (West). Saroja Patil and Vijayalaxmi Lutimath are pulling strings for securing nomination.

Corporator Shivu Hirekerur, Kumarswamy Pillay and Mareesh Nagannavar are vying for the Hubli-Dharwad (Central-SC) ticket. Buoyed by success in HDMC elections corporators Rajanna Koravi and Altaf Kittur are aspiring for party ticket from Hubli-Dharwad (East).