Jagadish Shettar’s prestige at stake
27 April 2013 7:45 AM IST
A win on his home turf here has become a matter of both survival and prestige for chief minister Jagadish Shettar as he is going the whole hog for a fifth victory from Hubli-Dharwad constituency.
The ruling BJP is seeking to make Hubli-Dharwad the new epicenter of its campaign for the 5 May assembly polls in the absence of former party strongman B S Yeddyurappa’s pan-Karnataka influence, to keep its strong base in north Karnataka intact. Shettar is perceived to have a clear cut edge over his rivals.
Political pundits have predicted a victory for Shettar with a depleted margin, as local leader of Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party and former minister Jabbar Khanm Honnalli and Somvanshya Sahasrarjun Kshatriya Samaj and former BJP leaderm Ashok Kat we are working to ensure their community votes for the Congress under a reported tacit understanding.
This could be a little worrisome for Shettar who had won the seat by 26,000 votes in the 2008 polls that saw the installation of the first-ever BJP Government in the South.
Speaking to PTI, Karnataka University Political Science Professor Harish said Shettar would win, not for his performance as a Chief Minister to develop his constituency, but because of the voter’s loyalty to a particular political ideology.
‘The voters, especially SSK Samaj in Hubli-Dharwad central assembly constituency have been loyal to a political ideology (Jan Sangh). Shettar’s father was a Jan Sanghi with a clean image which the CM has also been successful to maintain,’ he says.
Mohan Kabadi, a veteran belonging to SSK Samaj andn having seen almost 10 assembly elections in the constituency, said Katwe’s association with KJP would not damage Shettar’s victory prospects but weaken the margin. ‘People who are loyal to Jan Sangh ideology, who are more in numbers, would vote for BJP. The ones who had sought help from Kat we they may mobilise their community to vote for KJP or help Congress,’ he said.
As a political novice, Shettar himself had created a sensation when he defeated former Chief Minister S R Bommai’s son Basavaraj Bommai with a margin of 15,974 votes in 1994 polls.
Shettar now faces a political novice. He is in the fray against Congress’ Dr Mahesh Nalwad and Shams Tabrez Samsi of JDS. In all, 32 candidates, including 24 independents, are in the fray.
Belonging to Lingayat community as Shettar, Nalwad is betting on the chief minister’s alleged failure to improve Hubli’s infrastructure. He also banks on a ‘Congress wave.’ A point of bother for Congress is the party’s internal bickering. JDS is counting on minority votes. However, it is likely to indirectly help BJP, since the JD(S) is expected to split minority votes.
If the recent results of Urban Local Bodies polls are any indication, BJP seems to be comfortably positioned as it won 12 of the 19 wards of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in the constituency.
BATTLE OF STRENGTH
The ruling BJP is seeking to make Hubli-Dharwad the new epicenter of its campaign for the 5 May assembly polls in the absence of former party strongman B S Yeddyurappa’s pan-Karnataka influence, to keep its strong base in north Karnataka intact. Shettar is perceived to have a clear cut edge over his rivals.
Political pundits have predicted a victory for Shettar with a depleted margin, as local leader of Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party and former minister Jabbar Khanm Honnalli and Somvanshya Sahasrarjun Kshatriya Samaj and former BJP leaderm Ashok Kat we are working to ensure their community votes for the Congress under a reported tacit understanding.
This could be a little worrisome for Shettar who had won the seat by 26,000 votes in the 2008 polls that saw the installation of the first-ever BJP Government in the South.
Speaking to PTI, Karnataka University Political Science Professor Harish said Shettar would win, not for his performance as a Chief Minister to develop his constituency, but because of the voter’s loyalty to a particular political ideology.
‘The voters, especially SSK Samaj in Hubli-Dharwad central assembly constituency have been loyal to a political ideology (Jan Sangh). Shettar’s father was a Jan Sanghi with a clean image which the CM has also been successful to maintain,’ he says.
Mohan Kabadi, a veteran belonging to SSK Samaj andn having seen almost 10 assembly elections in the constituency, said Katwe’s association with KJP would not damage Shettar’s victory prospects but weaken the margin. ‘People who are loyal to Jan Sangh ideology, who are more in numbers, would vote for BJP. The ones who had sought help from Kat we they may mobilise their community to vote for KJP or help Congress,’ he said.
As a political novice, Shettar himself had created a sensation when he defeated former Chief Minister S R Bommai’s son Basavaraj Bommai with a margin of 15,974 votes in 1994 polls.
Shettar now faces a political novice. He is in the fray against Congress’ Dr Mahesh Nalwad and Shams Tabrez Samsi of JDS. In all, 32 candidates, including 24 independents, are in the fray.
Belonging to Lingayat community as Shettar, Nalwad is betting on the chief minister’s alleged failure to improve Hubli’s infrastructure. He also banks on a ‘Congress wave.’ A point of bother for Congress is the party’s internal bickering. JDS is counting on minority votes. However, it is likely to indirectly help BJP, since the JD(S) is expected to split minority votes.
If the recent results of Urban Local Bodies polls are any indication, BJP seems to be comfortably positioned as it won 12 of the 19 wards of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in the constituency.
BATTLE OF STRENGTH
- The ruling BJP is seeking to make Hubli-Dharwad the new epicenter of its campaign for the 5 May assembly polls in the absence of former party strongman B S Yeddyurappa’s pan-Karnataka influence, to keep its strong base in north Karnataka intact. Shettar is perceived to have a clear cut edge over his rivals
- Political pundits have predicted a victory for Shettar with a depleted margin, as local leader of Yeddyurappa’s Karnataka Janata Party and former minister Jabbar Khan Honnalli, Somvanshya Sahasrarjun Kshatriya Samaj and former BJP leader Ashok Kat are working to ensure that their community votes for the Congress under a reported tacit understanding
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