Congress ramps up Bagalkot campaign, deploys 40 MLAs, 20 ministers

Bagalkot: With polling fast approaching, the Congress has mobilised its full strength in Bagalkot to retain the constituency in the upcoming bypoll.

The move follows an internal party survey that indicated a neck-and-neck contest, with the margin of victory expected to be narrow.

Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has been camping in the constituency for the past 15 days, overseeing campaign strategy for party candidate Umesh Meti.

With less than a week left for polling, the chief minister has deployed over 40 MLAs and 20 ministers across the constituency. They have been tasked with ensuring that the Congress vote base remains intact.

Bagalkot constituency has around 2.8 lakh voters, almost evenly split between urban and rural areas. The urban electorate stands at approximately 1.14 lakh, while rural voters account for about 1.40 lakh. Women voters outnumber their male counterparts in the Constituency and, as such, hold the key. The social composition includes nearly 70,000 Lingayats, 40,000 Kurubas, 35,000 Muslims, 12,000 STs, 30,000 SCs (combined), 8,000 Lambanis, and around 10,000 voters from other communities.

Voting trends from the past three elections suggest that urban voters tend to favour the BJP, while rural voters have largely supported the Congress. This pattern strengthened after the 2008 delimitation, when Amingad, Kamatagi and Shirur areas were merged into Bagalkot, adding nearly 45,000 Congress-leaning votes. This shift had earlier helped H Y Meti secure a comfortable lead.

To consolidate its support, the Congress has assigned two MLAs to each gram panchayat and two ministers to each Zilla Panchayat constituency. Additionally, Mallikarjun Charantimath - younger brother of BJP candidate Veeranna Charantimath, who had rebelled in the 2023 election and secured around 10,000 votes - has now officially joined the Congress. The party expects his support base to transfer in its favour.

Basangouda Goudar of Bagalkot stated that the chief minister is treating the bypoll with utmost seriousness. Though earlier surveys gave an edge to the BJP, the situation is changing after intense campaigning by the Congress in the past few days," he said.

He added that MLAs are reaching out to their respective communities, urging them to support the party. The government’s guarantee schemes have also been well received, and there is a perception among voters that these benefits may be affected if Congress loses.

BJP wooing urban voters

Meanwhile, the BJP is focusing on consolidating its urban voter base. With support from the RSS, the party has reportedly enrolled over 5,400 new voters. Expelled BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal is also campaigning for party candidate Veeranna Charantimath, which is expected to boost the party’s prospects.

The BJP is conducting door-to-door campaigns in Navanagar, urging voters to turn out in large numbers. In the previous election, urban voter turnout was below 50%, while rural turnout exceeded 84%.

With both parties intensifying efforts, the contest is expected to go down to the wire.

Bijapur City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal campaigns for BJP candidate from Bagalkot Veeranna Charantimath at Bhagawati village on Thursday. DH PHOTOS