A hotbed of Lingayat politics, agrarian distress and drinking water crisis, the region’s six constituencies have been a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party in recent years. In the last Assembly elections, the BJP consolidated its voter base here, and the Congress will likely get little help from the JD(S) in this region.

Constituencies: Belagavi, Chikkodi, Dharwad, Haveri, Bagalkot, Vijayapura

Number of Assembly constituencies: 48

Battleground 2018

Candidates

BJP: 6

JD(S): 1

INC: 5

Others: 32

Independents: 109

Highest number of candidates: Belagavi, 66

Lowest number of candidates: Chikkodi, 14

The political landscape

The saffron party saw a resurgence in seats and vote share in the recent Assembly elections. JD(S) influence is limited to Vijayapura.

Party	MLAs	Vote share (%)
BJP	29	44.66
INC	16	40
JD(S)	2	6.5

*One seat was won by Karnataka Pragnyavantara Janata Paksha at Rannebennur

Electoral history

The BJP has consistently strengthened its position here, while the JD(S) has been relegated to being a marginal player

Party	BJP	INC	JD(S)
Year	Seats	Vote share (%)	Seats	Vote share (%)	Seats	Vote share (%)
1999*	2	22.93	3	45.54	0	6.57
2004	6	47.83	0	36.74	0	9.16
2009	6	50.42	0	40.48	0	3
2014	5	50.08	1	42.82	0	2.03

*JD(U) won one seat in 1999

Power play

The Congress’ Prakash B. Hukkeri’s victory in 2014 was the first time INC won from Chikkodi since 1991

The best JD(S) performance was through K.N. Siddappa, who secured 1.37 lakh votes to finish third in 2004. That was the only time a JD(S) candidate secured more than 1 lakh votes in the region.

The BJP has not lost the Dharwad seat since 1996 (when it was Dharwad North). Pralhad Joshi has won the seat three times.

Margins

Highest margin: Bagalkot, 2004, P. C. Gaddigoudar (BJP), 1.67 lakh votes

Lowest margin: Chikkodi, 2014, Prakash B. Hukkeri (INC), 3,003 votes