Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka: Stakes high for Siddaramaiah as his pick is pitted against veteran

BAGALKOT: Most of the village folk in

Bagalkot constituency

are ignorant of political parties or their candidates. For them it’s a fight between ‘hoova’ (lotus) and ‘hasta’ (hand) and they are pretty certain whom to vote for. Not because they have a mind of their own, but because the village headman tells them which button to press.


It’s no secret the chieftain is the ‘broker’ and parties know where their loyalties lie. While this situation persists in rural areas, urban minds are influenced by social media and PM Narendra Modi. Amidst this dichotomous scenario, leaders are trying to make political capital out of the situation. Pitted against threetime BJP MP PC Gaddigoudar is Veena Kashappanavar of the Congress. Veena, wife of Vijayanand Kashappanavar, former MLA, was zilla panchayat president until recently and is widely known to have larger ambitions that just district politics.

Though there were many aspirants for the seat, former chief minister Siddaramaiah took the gamble to field Veena, the first woman candidate for this constituency. Her candidature caused a spat among senior Congress leaders including RB Thimmapur, SR Patil, HY Meti and SG Nanjayanamath, all of whom were reluctant to campaign for Veena. Siddaramaiah’s parleys with the quartet saw the issue sorted out.

The task for Veena and Siddaramaiah is two-fold — to beat the Modi wave and contend with the dominance of the BJP in a constituency where it holds six of the eight assembly seats. A loss for Siddaramaiah will hurt since he has chosen Badami as his new home and wants to prove his mettle.

In Badami, Siddaramaiah’s pocket borough, most root for the Congress, saying the former CM has done a good job after winning the assembly polls. “He helped us get water from Savdatti dam (Renuka Sagara), saved our crops and solved drinking water problems,” said Bailappa at Pattadakal.

But Gaddigoudar is known as a ‘decent’ politician who has maintained cordial relationship with all communities. Channabasappa Patil from Kumareshwara said: “He always welcomes us inside his home and lends an ear to our woes, unlike others.” But there is a fair bit of anti-incumbency against Gaddigoudar and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa is not taking any chances since.

As caste equations go, the Panchamasali Lingayat community to which Veena belongs and the Ganiga community to which Gaddigoudar belongs stand at around 1.5 lakh each. Siddaramaiah’s Kuruba community has about 2.5 lakh voters, which Eshwarappa is trying to split.