BJP workers celebrate by throwing ‘gulal’ on each other, following the victory of the party candidate from Bijapur seat Ramesh Jigajinagi, in Vijayapura on Tuesday.
DH Photo
The BJP has succeeded in retaining its dominance in the Kittur Karnataka region.
Of the six seats, BJP lost Chikkodi to political novice Priyanka Jarkiholi of Congress.
The results on Tuesday scripted four new records — one for Congress and three for BJP.
While Priyanka (27) became the youngest MP to be elected from the region, BJP veteran and Bijapur MP Ramesh Jigajinagi registered his seventh straight win from the SC-reserved constituency.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Bagalkot sitting MP P C Gaddigoudar both registered their fifth straight wins, record victories in their respective constituencies.
Though the election is still a setback to Congress in its effort to increase its tally, the party has made considerable gains in vote share.
The BJP veterans, who had won the last election by a margin exceeding two to three lakhs, could not retain the same margin.
Jigajinagi, who had won with a 2.5 lakh vote margin in the previous election, could secure just 63,000 more votes than Congress nominee Raju Algur.
Similarly, Joshi from Dharwad and P C Gaddigoudar from Bagalkot, who had each won with a margin of about 2 lakh votes in 2019, failed to retain the margin.
While Joshi’s winning margin came down to one lakh, Gaddigoudar won by 55,000 votes.
In Haveri too, Basavaraj Bommai’s victory against novice Anandswamy Gaddadevarmath was not emphatic, as the former CM could garner just 40,000 more votes than his rival.
Desperate to regain its lost bastion, Congress has been experimenting with new faces, without much success. The only solace for the grand old party is that Priyanka Jarkiholi won the Chikkodi seat.
Three powerful Cabinet ministers in the region had fielded their offsprings and only one tasted success.
Samyukta Patil, daughter of Minister Shivanand Patil, and Mrinal Hebbalkar, son of Minister of Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar, who were in the fray from Bagalkot and Belgaum respectively, failed to make it to Parliament.
Lingayats constitute a major chunk of the electorate in the region, and they have been consistently supporting BJP.
The saffron party has reciprocated by giving Lingayats their due share in power. Out of six candidates, four were Lingayats, one was Brahmin and another was from an SC community.
There were efforts by Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakireshwar Mutt and others to disrupt Joshi’s prospects by playing the Lingayat card. However, the voters of Dharwad constituency were not swayed.
Belgaum elected former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who became the saffron party’s candidate for the constituency in a series of dramatic developments.
Pitted against Mrunal, Shettar emerged victorious with a margin of over 1.4 lakh votes. The constituency had drawn the attention of the state, as Laxmi’s prestige was at stake.