Satish Jarkiholi, a rationalist who speaks his mind

BENGALURU: Satish Jarkiholi, KPCC working president, is a popular anti-superstition crusader and is known to speak his mind. In December 2014, Satish, excise minister at that time, spent a night at a crematorium as part of an exercise to eradicate superstition.
Congress MLA from Yamakanmardi constituency, he once filed his nomination papers during ‘Rahu Kala’ which is widely believed to be an inauspicious time. Born into the Nayaka/ Valmiki community, a Schedule Tribe, the 60-yearold sugar baron — he is popularly called ‘Sahukar’ — is among the most influential of five brothers from politically significant Belagavi district.
The family enjoys considerable clout in Belagavi district. He is the younger sibling of Ramesh Jarkiholi, BJP’s Gokak MLA, but is elder to Balachandra Jarkiholi, BJP’s Arabhavi MLA, Bhimshi Jarkiholi and Lakhan Jarkiholi (independent MLC). The siblings represent different parties and sometimes are political opponents.
Satish is the founder of ‘Manava Bandhutva Vedike’, an antiblind-belief organisation, was minister for forests in the HD Kumarswamy led Congress-JD(S) coalition government, and held the small scale industries and excise portfolios in the Siddaramaiah-led cabinet.
He was among those who quit from a ministerial post and left JD(S) along with Siddaramaiah in 2006. When Siddaramaiah became CM in 2013, Satish, who was made excise minister, resigned from the cabinet, reportedly unhappy with the portfolio. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 byelection from the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat.