Belagavi is important for both Congress, BJP in Karnataka

The border issue with Maharashtra was raked up during the Karnataka Assembly elections, which has put the focus right back on Belagavi.

Interesting the Belagavi district has the second highest number of assembly seats after Bengaluru Urban. The contest is a direct one between the BJP and Congress, while the Maharashtra Ekikarna Samithi will look to spoil the party, by raking up the border issue.

This district has been a stronghold of the BJP for the past 20 years as it is highly populated with Lingayats, a community that accounts for 17 per cent of the population.

The fight this year will again be between the BJP and Congress. There are however five seats where the Maharashtra Ekikarna Samithi are strong. This party has however not performed well in the previous elections.

The BJP would give a huge emphasis to this belt of the state. The Congress too is not too far behind when it comes to Belagavi and its president D K Shivakumar has over the years tried to build up a solid base for the party. For the BJP, the worry however would be the exit of many Lingayat leaders. The party has taken the rebellion under its stride, but the fear always remains on which way the Lingayats would vote.

Also a close watch is being kept on the five constituencies in which the Marathas are dominant. On whether the border would become a factor that would favour the Maharashtra Ekikarna Samithi, an expert tells OneIndia that it may not be. The very fact that successive governments have put in a lot of emphasis to this region has ensured that the people of Belagavi will continue voting for the Congress or BJP. It also must be noted that when H D Kumaraswamy was chief minister, he had decided to have a special session of the Legislative Assembly every year in Belagavi. That too has played in the minds of the people, the expert also said.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP won 10 seats, while the Congress ended up with 8. However post the elections there were defections by three Congress MLAs-Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani) and Shrimanth Patil (Kagwad). All three of them joined the BJP. This could be a factor as the Jarkiholli family plays a crucial role in this region.

The BJP on the other hand would keep a close eye on Laxman Savadi, a former party leader who is contesting on a Congress ticket from the Athani seat, which also falls under the same belt.

In the Belagavi region, there are 39.01 lakh voters. 19,68,928 are male voters, 19,32,576 women and 141 registered as Others, according to official data.