The Congress failed to impress voters in six Lok Sabha constituencies of Kittur Karnataka, despite having 33 MLAs in these segments.
Priyanka Jarkiholi prevented a washout for the Congress by winning the Chikkodi seat in the region. The remaining five Congress candidates, including the children of two Cabinet ministers, suffered defeats.
The Congress has 11 MLAs in Belagavi district, six in Vijayapura, five in Bagalkot, four in Dharwad, two in Gadag and five in Haveri. The BJP has 16: seven in Belagavi, one in Vijayapura, two in Bagalkot, three in Dharwad, two in Gadag and one in Haveri.
It was expected that the Congress, taking advantage of being the ruling party, would manage to win 3-4 Lok Sabha seats in the region, thereby re-establishing its hold there.
Belagavi strongman Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, also KPCC working president, has openly expressed his displeasure at his party MLAs failing to get enough votes for the candidates. He has also blamed party colleagues for trying to dent the Congress’ prospects. Satish has even blamed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy, KPCC president D K Shivakumar for neglecting the region, without naming them.
“The producer and director are responsible for the flop show,” the minister said.
In Vijayapura, Congress has six MLAs and a former two-time MLA Raju Alagur was in the fray. The BJP had fielded veteran Ramesh Jigjinagi much against the wishes of many party leaders in the district. The Congress could not capitalise on the discontent among BJP cadre.
In Bagalkot, Sugar & Textiles Minister Shivanand Patil, who is from the neighbouring Vijayapura district, had managed to get the ticket for his daughter Samyukta, without taking the district MLAs into confidence.
He managed to impress the high command directly and this did not go down well with local MLAs. They had taken part in campaigning reluctantly.
In Dharwad, district incharge Minister Santosh Lad and MLA Vinay Kulkarni failed to get a lead for Congress nominee Vinod Asuti even in their Assembly constituencies — Kalghatgi and Dharwad (Rural), respectively.
In Belgaum segment, ‘overconfidence’ of Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, who had got the Congress ticket for her son Mrinal, proved costly. It is said she ignored other party MLAs from the district.
The victorious BJP candidate, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, managed to get a lead of 50,529 votes in Belagavi Rural, the constituency she represents in the Assembly.
The election outcome may now encourage disgruntled Congress leaders to demand that the ministers from the region be replaced.
Lok Sabha Election 2024 results | Check all constituency results here
Odisha Assembly poll 2024 results| Check constituency results here
Andhra Pradesh Assembly poll 2024 results | Check constituency results here
Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Narendra Modi's '400-paar' hopes faced stiff competition from Rahul Gandhi's I.N.D.I.A. in an election whose result came as a surprise. Track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The polls in Sikkim saw an SKM landslide win, while Arunachal Pradesh saw BJP return, Andhra Pradesh welcomed TDP with a massive mandate, and Odisha saw BJP end BJD's stronghold. Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.