JOIN USBJP bulldozes Cong fort in H-K
By opening its account in Raichur (ST) and Koppal Parliamentary constituencies, the ruling party has made an electoral history.
The victory of the saffron party in Raichur is particularly impressive as the party hardly had any rural base and network in the mofussil constituency.
In Koppal, however, the outcome is on the expected lines.
The remaining two constituencies - Gulbarga (SC) and Bidar - have come to the aid of Congress to save its honour. Mallikarjun Kharge has sailed through by defeating Animal Husbandry Minister Revu Nayak Belamagi with an unimpressive margin.
This is Kharge’s 10th consecutive electoral win since 1972 Assembly elections. Another stalwart and former chief minister Dharam Singh has made a quick comeback by winning the Bidar Lok Sabha seat, defeating Gurupadappa Nagmarpalli of BJP.
Despite the controversy created over the eleventh hour change of candidate, the BJP has been able to register its first victory in Raichur (ST) constituency.
Significant inroad
The BJP hardly has any base in Raichur district. Out of the eight Assembly segments of the Parliamentary constituency, as many as five are under the control of Congress while three are in BJP’s bag.
And yet BJP has made a significant inroad in Raichur which hitherto had remained a Congress bastion. In the last 14 general elections, the Congress had won 11 times while the Congress (Jagjivanram), independent, and Janata Dal had won once each. This is for the first time that BJP has made its entry through Sanna Pakkirappa.
In Koppal, the miscalculation of Congress has made it to pay the price. By denying ticket to the sitting MP K Virupakahsppa, Congress antagonised the backward classes.
Out of the four Lok Sabha seats in the Hyderabad-Karnataka, the party wanted to accommodate a Lingayat and it banked upon Basavaraj Rayareddy.
The victory of BJP is in tune with its performance in the Assembly elections in which the BJP had won in five of the eight Assembly segments, Congress is in one and JD(S) in two segments. BJP nominee Shivaramagouda has won by an impressive margin of 81,729 suggesting the decisive victory of the party. In the 14 general elections held in the past, the Congress had won in Koppal nine times, Janata Dal twice, Lok Sevak Sangh and independent once each.
On a sticky wicket
Kharge, who was on a sticky wicket has at last managed to sail through by a margin of 13,491 votes to remain defeatless in all the 10 elections he had fought so far. The lesser victory margin suggests the decreasing popularity of Congress. In fact the Congress is in a comfortable position as it had won in five of the eight Assembly segments while BJP in three. In neighbouring Bidar, which has been dereserved for the first time, former chief minister N Dharam Singh, despite being an outsider, has trounced the local strongman Gurupadappa Nagmarpalli.
Nagmarpalli has not only lost himself, his son Suryakant Nagmarpalli has also lost in the by-election to Bidar Assembly constituency. The ‘Operation Kamala’ has boomeranged on Nagmarpalli. He had resigned as Congress MLA to avail BJP ticket to contest Bidar Lok Sabha seat.