In the six districts of Kittur Karnataka, BJP was in for a shock as it lost as many as 14 seats to its main rival Congress in the region. The party had won 30 out of 50 seats in the 2018 Assembly Elections.
Congress, which had won 17 seats, increased its tally by 16, winning 33 seats in the region.
The JD(S), which had won two seats in 2018, had to be content with just one seat this time.
The Kittur Karnataka region comprises Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri districts.
The reasons for the saffron party’s dismal performance include strong anti-incumbency and a lack of enthusiasm among Lingayat and urban voters over supporting BJP.
BJP had pinned its hopes on the reservation it accorded to various sects of Lingayats and internal reservation to SC/STs. However, the move did not succeed in attracting the support of the beneficiary communities in the form of votes.
This is evident in Bilagi, Athani, Nargund where Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani, Mahesh Kumthalli and PWD Minister C C Patil who belong to Panchamsali community were in the fray respectively.
Nirani who had claimed to be working for the reservation to Panchamsalis right from the Yediyurappa’s tenure as CM, could not get adequate support from his own community in Bilagi and lost to J T Patil, who is a Raddi.
C C Patil who along with Nirani had tried to douse the Panchamsali movement fire scraped through narrowly in Nargund where the Lingayats are in considerable number.
In Athani the reservation to Lingayats did not come to the rescue of BJP’s Mahesh Kumthalli.
He was backed by Ramesh Jarkiholi who belongs to ST. The BJP has accorded internal reservation to SC/STs and Ramesh failed to impress upon his community people to ensure Kumthalli’s victory.
According to political observer Ashok Chandargi, the removal of B S Yediyurappa as the chief minister had annoyed the Lingayats. Therefore, the seers of Lingayat mutts remained indifferent when it came to asking the community to support BJP.
Corruption charges against ministers, price rises and lack of development dissuaded urban voters. The guarantees offered by Congress attracted voters in rural segments.
Seniors in the BJP chose to be indifferent as they felt that they were not being given due importance while selecting the candidates and taking important decisions, says political observer Lalit Bhandari.
The high-profile rallies by PM Modi, Amit Shah, J P Nadda and other central leaders only focused on the central schemes and national issues, he says. The top leaders did not dwell on the local issues and failed to counter the charges levelled against the BJP government by the Congress, he adds.
A mixed bag
Hubballi-Dharwad Central and Athani constituencies had drawn the attention of the entire nation, as a former chief minister and a former deputy chief minister in the BJP government had defected to the Congress at the last moment and were in the fray as Congress nominees.
The result was a mixed bag for Congress as former chief minister Jagadish Shettar lost in H-D Central, while Laxman Savadi won the seat for Congress in Athani.
All former ministers except Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Shashikala Jolle and C C Patil, failed to win a seat in the region.
Former JD(S) MLA N H Konaraddi, who had shifted to Congress a year ago and secured the party ticket for Navalgund constituency in Dharwad district, sprang a surprise by trouncing Sugar Minister Shankar Patil Munenkopp of BJP.
Other prominent ministers who lost seats are Govind Karjol, Murugesh Nirani and B C Patil.
Also Read | Lessons for BJP from defeat in Karnataka
Congress’ Vinay Kulkarni made history by winning in the Dharwad Rural constituency without entering the segment for campaigning, due to a ban imposed on him by the high court, as he is an accused in a murder case. The constituency continued to maintain its reputation of not sending the same candidate twice in a row to Vidhana Soudha as sitting BJP MLA Amrut Desai lost the battle.
2023 results
Total: 50 seats
Cong: 33 seats
BJP: 16 seats
JD(S): 1 seat
2018 results
Total seats: 50
BJP: 30 seats
Cong: 17 seats
JD(S): 2 seats
Ind: 1 seat
Candidates who failed to secure a seat
Jagadish Shettar (Cong), Govind Karjol (BJP), Murugesh Nirani (BJP), Shankar Patil Munenkoppa (BJP), Mahesh Kumthalli (BJP), Veeranna Charantimath (BJP), B C Patil (BJP).
Districtwise results
Vijaypura: Congress 6, JD(S) 1, BJP 1.
Belagavi: Congress 11, BJP 7.
Bagalkot: Congress 5, BJP 2.
Dharwad: Congress 4, BJP 3.
Gadag: Congress 2, BJP 2.
Haveri: Congress 5, BJP 1.
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