In the midst of the coronavirus second wave, bypolls were held for three constituencies in Karnataka. They were Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency, Maski assembly constituency in Raichur, and Basavakalyan in Bidar district.
After nearly 90 rounds of counting in Belagavi during which the fortunes of the candidates continued to fluctuate, BJP candidate Mangala Angadi secured a lead with 4,40,327 votes and won the election, while Congress candidate Satish Jarkiholi, who was leading for a few rounds, trailed behind with 4,35,087 votes. The margin rose to 5,240 votes in favour of the BJP.
With this, Mangala Angadi became the first woman to be a Lok Sabha member from Belagavi. She also became the first leader to defeat Satish Jarkiholi. The KPCC working president has never lost an election in his political career of nearly 30 years.
Mangala Angadi thanked the voters and the party workers for her victory.
Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar, who is related to Angadi, described it as the victory of the people. Suresh Angadi’s daughter Shraddha Shettar said that the people had paid a tribute to her father, by electing her mother.
Belagavi Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after Belagavi MP and Union Minister of State for Railways, Suresh Angadi, had passed away due to COVID-19. The Congress MLA from Basavakalyan, B Narayana Rao, also had succumbed to the coronavirus infection.
Angadi, a four-time Lok Sabha member from the region, died due to Covid-19 on September 23, 2020 in New Delhi, while Rao died on September 24, 2020 in Bengaluru.
In Belagavi, the BJP had fielded Mangala Angadi, widow of the late Suresh Angadi. Congress had fielded its statue unit Working President Satish Jarkiholi, who is also the brother of the former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who is embroiled in the sleaze CD scandal. The major fight was between these two candidates.
Pratapagouda Patil, MLA of Maski, had crossed to the BJP from the Congress and therefore became disqualified.
The bypolls were held on March 17 and the votes were counted on May 2.
Of the 18,13,567 strong electorate in Belagavi, 10,16,025 voted, resulting in 56.02 per cent polling. Of 6,435 postal ballots issued for absentee voters in Belagavi, 5,831 were received. Rajya Sabha member Eeranna Kadadi said that there were different reasons, including hesitation among some voters to come out in the middle of an epidemic, for the lower margin.
Maski goes to Congress, while BJP wins in Basavakalyan
Basanagouda Turvihal, pitted by the Congress against BJP’s Pratapgouda Patil, won at Maski. The Congress candidate secured 86,337 votes to win with a comfortable margin of 30,606. Patil, meanwhile, polled 55,731 votes.
BJP candidate Pratapgouda Patil was among the 17 MLAs of the then ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition who had defected to the BJP and helped it come to power in the State.
However, the anti-incumbency wave sweeping across the constituency against Mr. Patil has resulted an impressive win for Congress candidate Basanagouda Turvihal, who was with the BJP back in 2018. The absence of a third strong candidate that could have split Congress votes was another advantage for him.
Speaking to reporters after he came to know of the result, the BJP candidate said that the people have acted for a change and chosen Basavanagouda Turvihal. He wished all the best for the people of the constituency. He also said that when the people had decided in advance to defeat him, no one and any amount of campaigning will not have any effect. He however said he will continue to work for the people of the constituency as a party activist.
In Basavakalyan constituency, BJP candidate Sharanu Salagar won with a margin of 20,629 votes votes. Congress candidate Mala Narayana Rao was the runner-up.
The solid support of Lingayats is seen as a major reason for Salagar’s victory. Laying the foundation stone for the new Anubhava Mantapa, a ₹600-crore project, and the formation of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Board with a budgetary allocation of ₹500 crore contributed to the mobilisation of community votes for Salagar.
Also in the fray was Syed Yasrab Ali Quadri of the JD(S), polling 11,402 votes. This was the only constituency where the JD(S) fielded a candidate, and it is believed this took away minority votes from the Congress.
The Maratha votes appear to have been split between the Congress and BJP. The formation of a Maratha Development Corporation by the BJP government played its role here. The former MLA and Maratha leader M.G. Mule, who had filed nomination papers as Nationalist Congress Party candidate, withdrawing his candidature too avoided a further split in votes and helped the BJP.
In all, 30 candidates, including 10 in Belagavi, 12 in Basavakalyan and 8 in Maski contested. Of them, 26 were men and 4 women.
There were also 5 Independents each in Belagavi and Maski, and 4 in Basavakalyan.
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