Bengaluru
Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit poll-bound Karnataka’s Hubballi-Dharwad and Belagavi districts on Saturday to attend a series of public events, including a roadshow and a public meeting. The visit to what is known as Kittur-Karnataka (Mumbai-Karnataka) region, a stronghold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is an attempt to consolidate votes in the region.
This is Shah’s second visit to the state, where elections to the 224-member assembly will be held later this year. In December-end, the Union home minister visited Bengaluru, Mandya, and Bengaluru Rural districts. During the previous elections, the BJP won 104 votes in Karnataka, of which 30 were from the Kittur-Karnataka region.
“Amit Shah will be arriving and staying in Hubballi on January 27. The next morning, he will first attend the 75th anniversary celebrations of BV Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology in KLE Technology University, and then lay the foundation stone of National Forensic Sciences University in Dharwad,” state BJP’s general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai said.
Shah will then participate in BJP’s ‘Vijaya Sankalp Abhiyana’ in Kundagol. “He will also be offering prayers at the nearly 300-year-old Shambulingeshwara temple in Kundagol, following which he will launch the Vijaya Sankalpa Abhiyana by doing a wall painting,” Tenginkai added.
The Union minister will then take part in a “massive roadshow” of about 1.5 km in the Kundagol assembly segment, which comes under Dharwad rural region, he said, adding that the state unit will also distribute pamphlets and organise a membership drive during the event.
From Kundagol, Shah will proceed to M K Hubballi near Kittur in Belagavi district to participate in a rally, which is part of the ongoing “Jana Sankalpa Yatra”, Tenginkai said. The party aims to mobilise a large number of workers and supporters from Kittu, Khanapur and Bylahongala assembly segments during the event, he added.
Khanapur and Bylahongala assembly segments are currently represented by Congress legislators.
The day-long visit will conclude with two meetings with the BJP cadre in Belagavi district, he said.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, senior leader BS Yediyurappa and Union minister Pralhad Joshi, among others, will be participating in the party programmes in Kundagol and M K Hubballi.
A senior leader said that, unlike the previous elections, Shah is focusing on region-specific campaigns. “During his previous visit, the Union minister asked the BJP cadre to focus on increasing the party’s prospects in the Mandya region. Since then, one senior minister each has been appointed as district in charge…,” the leader said.
The party leadership has decided to pay close attention to Belagavi district this year, which has been at the centre of the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharastra, and the recent protests for reservation by the Panchamasali community. With 18 assembly seats, the Belagavi district stands next only to Bengaluru which accounts for 28 seats in the 224-member assembly.
Prashant Patil, a north Karnataka-based political observer, said that though the Mumbai-Karnataka region has been a stronghold of the BJP due to the support it enjoys from the Lingayat community, recent protests by the Panchamasali community for reservation could hurt the party’s prospects in the area.
The Panchamasalis are the largest group within the powerful Lingayat umbrella in Karnataka, and have been demanding inclusion in the 2A subdivision under the OBC category, which is categorised as “more backward” and offers 15% reservation in education and employment. The Lingayat — a community that boasts current BJP chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor BS Yediyurappa among its tallest leaders — form at least 18% of the state’s population, and Panchamasalis are over half that number. Panchamasalis, a peasant community, have often argued that despite their numerical superiority, other sub-sects of the Lingayats have received more state attention and have turned powerful, sparking anger within the community.
“The Congress had tried to divide the Lingayat vote bank with the demand for a new religion, but they failed. However, the agitation over the Panchamasali reservation (the largest sub-sect within the Lingayat community), could affect BJP’s chances. Yediyurappa will play a crucial role in the BJP’s strategy to retain this region,” said Patil.
Besides, former BJP minister and MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, a key leader in the Belagavi region, has been upset with the party after he was removed over a sex-for-job scandal. Similarly, the death of senior leader Umesh Katti, who had a substantial political hold in the area, has turned the party cautious.
(With PTI inputs)