<p>Bengaluru: Karnataka Public Works Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/satish-jarkiholi">Satish Jarkiholi</a> on Tuesday said mobilising Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) communities would be a challenge for the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress </a>in 2028, underlining the need for the party to "protect" its core political constituency.</p><p>"The 'Ahinda' vote is the backbone of the party. We need to protect it and ensure justice and power to the Ahinda communities. Our party should do more for the bloc in the next two years. A big challenge is to consolidate this bloc if we are to win the 2028 Assembly elections," said Jarkiholi, while attributing the party’s win in the Bagalkot bypoll to the support from these communities.</p><p>Congress’ Umesh Meti, son of late H Y Meti, won the seat by 22,867 votes against BJP’s Veeranna Charanthimath. The constituency had fallen vacant following the demise of H Y Meti. </p>.'Not BJP but Election Commission won in West Bengal and Assam': Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge.<p>Jarkiholi, speaking to reporters here, also attributed the huge-margin victory to Meti’s goodwill among voters, Congress’ traditional votes and development work.</p><p>“The winning margin in the seat has always been less than 10,000 votes (in 2023, it was 5,878 votes). If not for Ahinda consolidation in Bagalkot, we would not have won the segment with a huge margin. In fact, we managed to attract additional 'Ahinda' votes of the BJP," claimed Jarkiholi, who led a team from Belagavi and campaigned extensively to consolidate the Ahinda vote.</p><p>Earlier too, Jarkilholi - who aspires to be the political heir to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the most popular Ahinda leader in the state - had said that the Congress government had failed to deliver on the assurances to Ahinda communities due to "internal resistance".</p><p>“The Ahinda movement which evolved over the last 25 years needs a shift in strategy. It should function beyond electoral politics," Jarkiholi had said during the Ahinda convention in Hubballi recently.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Karnataka Public Works Minister <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/satish-jarkiholi">Satish Jarkiholi</a> on Tuesday said mobilising Ahinda (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) communities would be a challenge for the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress </a>in 2028, underlining the need for the party to "protect" its core political constituency.</p><p>"The 'Ahinda' vote is the backbone of the party. We need to protect it and ensure justice and power to the Ahinda communities. Our party should do more for the bloc in the next two years. A big challenge is to consolidate this bloc if we are to win the 2028 Assembly elections," said Jarkiholi, while attributing the party’s win in the Bagalkot bypoll to the support from these communities.</p><p>Congress’ Umesh Meti, son of late H Y Meti, won the seat by 22,867 votes against BJP’s Veeranna Charanthimath. The constituency had fallen vacant following the demise of H Y Meti. </p>.'Not BJP but Election Commission won in West Bengal and Assam': Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge.<p>Jarkiholi, speaking to reporters here, also attributed the huge-margin victory to Meti’s goodwill among voters, Congress’ traditional votes and development work.</p><p>“The winning margin in the seat has always been less than 10,000 votes (in 2023, it was 5,878 votes). If not for Ahinda consolidation in Bagalkot, we would not have won the segment with a huge margin. In fact, we managed to attract additional 'Ahinda' votes of the BJP," claimed Jarkiholi, who led a team from Belagavi and campaigned extensively to consolidate the Ahinda vote.</p><p>Earlier too, Jarkilholi - who aspires to be the political heir to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the most popular Ahinda leader in the state - had said that the Congress government had failed to deliver on the assurances to Ahinda communities due to "internal resistance".</p><p>“The Ahinda movement which evolved over the last 25 years needs a shift in strategy. It should function beyond electoral politics," Jarkiholi had said during the Ahinda convention in Hubballi recently.</p>