BJP rebels irritant for North Karnataka candidates

BELAGAVI: It’s no secret that Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) ties have soured due to ticket allotment in some constituencies in south Karnataka. However, similar trouble is afoot for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the north where leaders are unhappy with its choice of candidates.In constituencies like Chikkodi, Raichur, Bijapur and Belgaum, the BJP is staring at a rebellion which threatens to damage its prospects in the upcoming polls. With just a few days to go before the polls, there is still visible disagreement and frayed nerves among some leaders.

The rebel factor could eventually backfire for the BJP in Bijapur, where a locally popular politician, party MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, is at loggerheads with party candidate Ramesh Jigajinagi and chose to skip the party’s campaigns in the district, not even showing up for Jigajinagi’s nomination filing rally. With Yatnal not on his side, a sizeable vote-share for the party could drift away from its candidate and with the right nudge by Yatnal, will end up benefiting JD(S) candidate Sunita Chavan.

According to sources, however, Yatnal remained committed to the larger goal of electing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and with Jigajinagi facing a weak opponent, any rebellion by the local leader would not harm the candidate’s prospects.

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Meanwhile, in Chikkodi, the BJP-RSS rift resulted in former MP Ramesh Katti being left without a ticket. Based on a call taken by the RSS, Annasaheb Jolle will contest the election, in a constituency which has been the bastion of the Kattis for more than three decades. Katti, who had lost the last elections by a margin of 3,000 votes, has been vocal about being denied the ticket and just a day before Jolle’s name was finalised, Katti went on to announce that he had been denied the ticket despite scoring 97 per cent in the party’s pre-poll survey, while Jolle had scored a mere 3 per cent.

In Raichur, sources said that former MLA Tipparaju Hawaldar is angry after he was denied a ticket allegedly at the behest of the RSS.  While he had the support of many top leaders from the state including MLA Shivanagouda Nayak, the party top brass fielded Raja Amareshwar Nayak and this led Hawaldar to hold an open meeting accusing Shivanagouda Nayak of working against him.