BJP out to woo Lingayats in Kittur K’taka

Dharwad: The BJP, in a bid to get re-elected to power in Karnataka, is not leaving any stone unturned to retain its Lingayat support base in the Kittur Karnataka region.
Kittur Karnataka region comprises Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts and together, these districts have 50 seats. In 2018, BJP had secured 54 seats in 13 districts of north Karnataka and of these, 40 were from six districts of Kittur-Karnataka.
That the BJP instead of seeking a fresh mandate based on its performance is leaning on the caste factor to get re-elected is evident from the fact that it has fielded 33 Lingayat candidates out of 47 announced so far.
The candidates for Hubballi-Dharwad Central, Ron in Gadag district and Nagathan (SC) in Vijayapura district are yet to be announced. In all probability, two more Lingayats will be named for the remaining segments.
The number of Lingayat candidates in Vijayapura district is 7, Bagalkot has 6, Belagavi has 9, Dharwad has 5 (HD Central not finalised yet), Haveri 5 and Gadag (Ron candidate yet to be finalised) has 2. There are seven seats reserved for SC/ST in Kittur Karnataka region and the remaining 43 are for the general category.
In almost all the districts, Lingayats have bagged tickets in the constituencies that are meant for the general category. In Belagavi district which has 18 seats, candidates from Kuruba, Jain and Maratha communities have managed to bag seats to some extent.
However, all Lingayats are not happy with BJP despite their community getting a lion’s share in the tickets. There have been internal squabbles citing ‘injustice’ to a particular sub-caste.
The party leaders will have a tough time dousing discontent among the aspirants within the same sub-sect and rebellion by other members of the party. Already protests have erupted at Badami, Bagalkot, Terdal, Jamkhandi, Athani, Dharwad Rural and other constituencies against the distribution of tickets.
The statements made by Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal during the agitation for 2A reservation for Panchamasali Lingayats have enraged Ganigas and Banajigas (sub-sects of Lingayats) and the BJP leaders may have to douse numerous fires to keep the party’s support base intact.