 "Battleground elections 2014: It's problem of plenty in Bagalkot")
The Bagalkot Lok Sabha constituency, which had been a Congress bastion till 1991 has now turned into a BJP stronghold. Buoyed by its success in the last assembly elections, the Congress is trying hard to regain its foothold here. While the BJP has cleared the name of two-time winner P C Gaddigoudar, the Congress is yet to finalise its candidate.
The selection of the candidate has become a contentious issue, with a young pediatrician, Dr Devaraj Patil, throwing his hat into the ring. Former MP Ajaykumar Sarnayak is another aspirant. The KPCC election committee is said to have sent the names of both for the high command’s consideration.
The selection of candidate for Bagalkot depends not only on their winnability but also on who gets the ticket from Koppal constituency. The Congress has won the Bagalkot seat five times from 1977 with Sanganagouda Basanagouda Patil (1977), Veerendra Patil (1980), Hanumanthgouda Bheemanagouda Patil (1984), Siddu Bheemappa Nyamagouda (1991) and R S Patil (1999) getting elected. Hullappa Meti (Janata Dal)) wrested the seat from the Congress defeating Siddu Nyamagouda by 21,332 votes in 1996.
Parvatagouda Chandanagouda Gaddigoudar (BJP) won the seat in 2004 and 2009 by defeating R S Patil and J T Patil (both Congress) respectively.
Ajaykumar Sarnayak, after a short stint in the Parliament, has now joined the Congress. He belongs to Reddy community, a dominant community in the region. Dr Devaraj Patil who had been given a ticket to contest assembly election from Badami in 2013 was later replaced by B B Chimmanakatti.
Now Chimmanakatti is backing the candidature of Dr Patil who belongs to the Kuruba community and youth Congress. Meanwhile, Congress MLAs Umashree (Terdal), B B Chimmanakatti (Badami), Kashappanavar (Hungund) and former MLA R B Timmapur are said to be batting for IT minister S R Patil’s candidature.
Bagalkot Lok Sabha constrituency comprises Mudhol, Terdal, Jamkhandi, Bilgi, Badami, Bagalkot, Hungund and Nargund assembly segments. While seven MLAs in the constituency are from Congress, Govind Karjol (Mudhol) is from BJP.
Interestingly, the selection of the candidate for Bagalkot does not depend solely on their winnability.
But on who gets Congress ticket from Koppal. The people in Koppal are pressing for ticket to a person from the upper caste. They point out that Bidar, Gulbarga and Raichur constituencies in Hyderabad-Karnataka are reserved and hence the Koppal ticket should go to an upper caste candidate.
Amaregouda Bayyapur (Reddy) is the frontrunner in Koppal. If Bayyapur gets the ticket, the Congress will have to consider an OBC for Bagalkot and Dr Patil will have a chance. If Basvaraj Itnal, who is a Kuruba, is given ticket in Koppal, Ajaykumar would be in the fray from Bagalkot.
Meanwhile, the name of Shrishail Dalawai (Kuruba) from Jamkhadi is also making rounds.
According to sources, Congress plans to field three Kurubas from the state. While H Vishwanath from Mysore is fixed, the options are to field two more candidates from Chikkodi, Koppal and Dharwad.
The selection of the candidate has become a contentious issue, with a young pediatrician, Dr Devaraj Patil, throwing his hat into the ring. Former MP Ajaykumar Sarnayak is another aspirant. The KPCC election committee is said to have sent the names of both for the high command’s consideration.
The selection of candidate for Bagalkot depends not only on their winnability but also on who gets the ticket from Koppal constituency. The Congress has won the Bagalkot seat five times from 1977 with Sanganagouda Basanagouda Patil (1977), Veerendra Patil (1980), Hanumanthgouda Bheemanagouda Patil (1984), Siddu Bheemappa Nyamagouda (1991) and R S Patil (1999) getting elected. Hullappa Meti (Janata Dal)) wrested the seat from the Congress defeating Siddu Nyamagouda by 21,332 votes in 1996.
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Ajaykumar Sarnayak (Lok Shakti) handed Siddu Nyamagouda another defeat in 1998 when he was trounced by a margin of 83,632 votes. In 1999, R S Patil regained the seat for the Congress by trouncing Ajaykumar who was then in the Janata Dal (U) by 76,434 votes.
Parvatagouda Chandanagouda Gaddigoudar (BJP) won the seat in 2004 and 2009 by defeating R S Patil and J T Patil (both Congress) respectively.
Ajaykumar Sarnayak, after a short stint in the Parliament, has now joined the Congress. He belongs to Reddy community, a dominant community in the region. Dr Devaraj Patil who had been given a ticket to contest assembly election from Badami in 2013 was later replaced by B B Chimmanakatti.
Now Chimmanakatti is backing the candidature of Dr Patil who belongs to the Kuruba community and youth Congress. Meanwhile, Congress MLAs Umashree (Terdal), B B Chimmanakatti (Badami), Kashappanavar (Hungund) and former MLA R B Timmapur are said to be batting for IT minister S R Patil’s candidature.
Bagalkot Lok Sabha constrituency comprises Mudhol, Terdal, Jamkhandi, Bilgi, Badami, Bagalkot, Hungund and Nargund assembly segments. While seven MLAs in the constituency are from Congress, Govind Karjol (Mudhol) is from BJP.
Interestingly, the selection of the candidate for Bagalkot does not depend solely on their winnability.
But on who gets Congress ticket from Koppal. The people in Koppal are pressing for ticket to a person from the upper caste. They point out that Bidar, Gulbarga and Raichur constituencies in Hyderabad-Karnataka are reserved and hence the Koppal ticket should go to an upper caste candidate.
Amaregouda Bayyapur (Reddy) is the frontrunner in Koppal. If Bayyapur gets the ticket, the Congress will have to consider an OBC for Bagalkot and Dr Patil will have a chance. If Basvaraj Itnal, who is a Kuruba, is given ticket in Koppal, Ajaykumar would be in the fray from Bagalkot.
Meanwhile, the name of Shrishail Dalawai (Kuruba) from Jamkhadi is also making rounds.
According to sources, Congress plans to field three Kurubas from the state. While H Vishwanath from Mysore is fixed, the options are to field two more candidates from Chikkodi, Koppal and Dharwad.