Belagavi defeat : BJP vs BJP

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: When polls are around, family ties take precedence over political affiliations and that’s what has happened in the case of the BJP’s Belagavi ‘disaster’ with the party drawing a blank in a saffron stronghold.

There are red faces in the BJP after Council Chief Whip Mahesh Kavatagimath was edged out by Independent candidate Lakhan Jarkiholi during the counting of second preference votes. Insiders claim it was the crafty Ramesh Jarkiholi, also known as Gokak Sahukar,’ who plotted Kavatagimath’s defeat and ensured the victory of his brother Lakhan, throwing party diktats to the winds.