No clear contender yet to break the ‘Dharwad jinx’

Dharwad: The Dharwad assembly constituency, known as Dharwad Rural before delimitation and which was a Congress bastion in the 1980s, holds a unique position among all the assembly seats in Karnataka – it is the only one from where no candidate has ever won two consecutive terms.
As the state heads to the polls, the big question is: Will anyone be able to break the ‘Dharwad Jinx’?
This assembly seat comprises the rural areas of Dharwad taluk and seven wards within Dharwad city. It includes seven wards of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation with a sizable Muslim, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes population. In the run-up to the last assembly elections in 2018, the issues that held sway were diversion of Mahadayi waters to Malaprabha and the demand for a separate religious status for Lingayats. This time around, speculation is rife on whether Congressman Vinay Kulkarni, who had represented the constituency in 2004 and 2013, will again be fielded by the grand old party.
Though Vinay Kulkarni, an accused in the Yogeeshgowda murder case, is currently out on bail and has been banned by the court from entering Dharwad, he is still keen on contesting. It remains to be seen whether he manages to clear all the legal hurdles in time and seal a Congress ticket.
Meanwhile, Seema Masuti and Tavanappa Astagi are vying for a BJP ticket from the constituency, hoping that the saffron party top brass will replace sitting MLA Amrut Desai. Desai, though, exudes confidence that he will get the party’s ticket and break the ‘Dharwad Jinx’.
Realising that Kulkarni’s chances of securing a Congress ticket are bleak, Ismail Tamatgar has also thrown his hat into the ring. In case Tamatgar fails to get a ticket, chances of him fighting as a JD(S) candidate cannot be ruled out, although JD(S) has only a marginal presence in the constituency.