Karnataka politics: A tale of two pictures

After crossing swords, Belagavi Rural MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar and Yamkanamaradi MLA Satish Jarkiholi sat next to each other in the front row during the platinum jubilee celebrations of Karnataka Law Society on Saturday. The event also saw the presence of President Ramnath Kovind.

Laxmi and the Jarkiholi brothers (Ramesh and Satish) were locked in a battle for one-upmanship in the Belagavi taluk PLD Bank election.

Like they say, pictures speak volumes. So have they now mended their fences or is it the calm before the bigger storm?

In another interesting picture taken at the Belagavi airport, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy gestures as if to placate Municipalities Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy with Municipalities Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, at the Belagavi airport on Saturday. (Pic special arrangement)

The Jarkiholi brothers are reportedly upset over the strides being made by Laxmi in their stronghold of Belagavi.

Laxmi's increasing clout, apparently due to the backing of Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, has reportedly upset the brothers and they have asked the party high command to direct Shivakumar to stay away from Belagavi district politics.

Also, among their demands are making Satish either the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee or the deputy chief minister.