BJP fields Angadi’s wife Mangala for Belgaum bypoll

In a surprise pick, the BJP on Thursday chose Mangala Angadi, the wife of late Suresh Angadi as its candidate for the April 17 Belgaum Lok Sabha bye-election.

Angadi was a union minister at the time of his death in September last, necessitating this bypoll.

According to sources, Mangala Angadi got the ticket as local BJP leaders mounted pressure on the central leadership to field someone from Suresh’s family to ride on a ‘sympathy’ wave in a seat widely seen as an easy one for the saffron unit.

Mangala was picked over Angadi’s daughter Shradha, MLC Mahantesh Kavatagimath and Dr Girish Sonwalkar, a local Belagavi medic whose names were speculated for the bypoll ticket.

The ‘surprise’ element in Mangala’s pick, some say, is that it goes against the BJP’s anti-dynasty stand. In fact, some argued that the BJP will not field someone from Angadi’s family just as how late HN Ananth Kumar’s wife Tejaswini did not get the ticket from Bangalore South in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In all likelihood, Mangala will be up against Karnataka Congress working president Satish Jarkiholi whose candidature is yet to be formally announced.

With former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi having taken a backseat due to the sex scandal, the BJP has deployed Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar as in-charge of the Belgaum bypoll. Shettar’s son is married to Angadi’s daughter.

Congress is planning to use the sex scandal involving Satish’s brother Ramesh to its advantage in the upcoming bypolls.

In other tickets, the BJP has fielded disqualified MLA Pratapgouda Patil in the Maski assembly constituency. He was one of the 17 MLAs who defected in 2019 to help the BJP come to power and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is said to have assured him of the ticket. Patil will be up against the BJP’s 2018 defeated candidate Basanagouda Turvihal, who is now with Congress.

At Basavakalyan, the BJP has selected a local youth leader named Sharanu Salagar. He will be up against Mallamma, wife of B Narayan Rao, the incumbent MLA who died September last and Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri of the JD(S). It is said that the JD(S), by fielding a Muslim candidate, can potentially split the Congress' vote share, which will help the BJP.