In Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency, old rivals are back in the game, with Pralhad Joshi of the BJP and Vinay Kulkarni of the Congress (coalition candidate), locking horns once again.
With each passing day, Mr. Joshi, the incumbent, and Mr. Kulkarni, former Minister, are toiling hard to woo the voters and it is evident that a major electoral battle is on the cards.
Once a stronghold of the Congress, this seat has been with the BJP since 1996. There are 19 candidates — including Independents and from smaller parties — in the fray. The JD(S) support to the Congress will be of little benefit as the party has lost ground here over the years. While it failed to field a candidate in 2009 polls, in the 2014 elections, its candidate got a meagre 8,836 votes. Besides, the party drew a blank in the 2018 Assembly polls.
Spread across eight Assembly constituencies, the topography of Dharwad is a mix of Malnad and arid regions. As 51% of the voters are urban, issues concerning them are likely to dominate the elections. In the 2018 Assembly polls, BJP emerged triumphant by winning six seats. Of the two seats won by the Congress, one (Kundagol) is set for bypolls on May 19, following the demise of former Minister C.S. Shivalli.
The Congress registered facile wins until 1996. After that, with developments such as the Idgah Maidan row, voters gravitated towards the BJP. Over the years, the BJP has created a dedicated vote bank, and the party has won irrespective of the candidates, and more interestingly, rising above caste lines.
Door-to-door visits, public meetings, road shows and campaigning in the villages are gaining momentum. The BJP and the Sangh Parivar have engaged their full strength to ensure the victory of Mr. Joshi, who is seeking a fourth term. Although Mr. Joshi claims to be seeking votes based on his performance, he does it in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides referring to air strikes, security issues and development works in the constituency, he winds up his speeches with an appeal to re-elect the Modi government. Although he is admired in urban pockets for initiating projects such as the gas pipeline, getting IIT-Dharwad, major road development etc., discontent against him is palpable in some rural pockets.
On the other hand, Mr. Kulkarni, trying his luck for the second time, is focusing more on consolidating his position in the rural areas, yet not overlooking urban voters. He slams Mr. Joshi for taking shelter under the Modi name and terms it an attempt to conceal his failures. His electoral pitch is on the works in agriculture and rural development sectors that got a boost when he was the Minister. The Congress’ attempt to play the caste card is evident from the statements of AICC secretary Shakir Sanadi, who admitted that the party chose Mr. Kulkarni, ignoring a demand to field a Muslim leader, considering possibilities of consolidating the Lingayat and minority votes in favour of the Congress. Mr. Kulkarni is also stressing upon Lingayat solidarity.
Caste factor
Although the electorate is predominantly Lingayat, an analysis of results shows that the caste factor has little impact in parliamentary elections. So far, only one each of Lingayat (Vijay Sankeshwar) and Kuruba (D.K. Naikar) and three Brahmins (D.P. Karmarkar, Sarojini Mahishi, Pralhad Joshi) have been elected.
Interestingly, in 2009, an attempt by Congress candidate Manjunath C. Kannur to woo the electorate on caste basis failed. On earlier occasions, both Mr. Joshi and Mr. Kulkarni benefited from perceptible waves in favour of their parties. But this time no such strong wave is visible. Voters too appear to be divided more this time and are keeping their choices close to their chest.
While elections are decided by undercurrents, this time it seems to be a close fight.