Chitradurga district refuses to be branded as any party's bastion

CHITRADURGA: In 1994, Challakere, a reserved assembly constituency in Chitradurga district, voted a Janata Dal (then, undivided) candidate to power. In the following election, the BJP candidate emerged winner. And in the last three elections, Challakere has returned the Congress twice and the BJP once.

This pattern – or the lack of it – in Challakere is true of the entire district. In the last two-and-a-half decades, Chitradurga district’s six assembly constituencies have refused to be branded as bastions of any political party. The district with one of the highest number of reserved constituencies (three out of six), has even given independents a chance, many a time.

“This district has a distinct voting pattern. People here vote for candidates more out of goodwill than on party affiliation, caste or community,” said Yadava Reddy, retired principal of the Government Boys College in Chitradurga town.

For instance, G H Thippareddy, the sitting MLA from Chitradurga constituency, was elected twice before as an independent. The same man was also elected from the Congress (2004) and from the BJP (2013). Congress sitting MLA from Hiriyur, D Sudhakar, was first elected as an independent in 2008.

At present, four of the six seats are held by Congress, while BJP holds one. BSR Congress, which B Sreeramulu floated after leaving the BJP in 2013, won one seat. That party has since merged with the BJP. Anti-incumbency against district-incharge minister H Anjaneya, among Dalits (for not securing internal reservation for Madigas) and in general appears to be a crucial factor that could favour BJP.

The Congress, however, shrugs off any doubts on their MLAs’ popularity. “Be it D Sudhakar in Hiriyur or T Raghupathy in Challakere, the sitting MLAs are popular among voters and we are quite sure of retaining four seats,” M K Tajpeer, vice president of the district Congress committee, said. The BJP is relying heavily on the anti-incumbency against H Anjaneya and the entry of B Sreeramulu to the district politics.

“Sreeramulu contesting from Molakalmuru will help us secure the Nayaka votes in other constituencies as well,” S Siddesh Yadav, head of BJP’s district campaign committee said. Meanwhile, the JDS, which did not leave an impact in the last election, is making an attempt to woo Dalit voters through its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party.