Some poor decisions cost Congress dear in Belgaum: Jarkiholi

Congress candidate in Belgaum Mrinal Hebbalkar lost because of some poor decisions made by minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, district Minister Satish Jarkiholi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters here, Satish said, “The Congress leaders failed to understand the pulse of voters in Belgaum. They failed to read and counter the strategy of the rival party. Also, overconfidence and complacency cost the candidate dear. Mrinal conceded 50,529 votes to Shettar in Belgaum Rural Assembly constituency represented by his mother Laxmi.”

“There are more than 5 lakh Lingayat voters in the constituency. Our party failed to woo Lingayats. We failed to understand their inclination. Before chalking out election strategy, one must understand the inclination of voters. Our leaders didn’t gather inputs from intelligence,” Satish, also the KPCC working president, said.

Replying to a query, Jarkiholi said his siblings in BJP camp - Ramesh and Balachandra -were not responsible for Mrinal’s loss.

“They didn’t campaign for BJP candidate in Laxmi Hebbalkar’s constituency-Belgaum Rural,” the Yamakanamaradi MLA said.

Taking an indirect swipe at KPCC president D K Shivakumar, Jarkiholi said, “If the director and producer do not put in sincere efforts, the film will fail. The party suffered a setback as our leaders neglected a few constituencies, the minister said.