Hangal: Hometown blues for Bommai

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT Bengaluru, Nov. 2

The bypoll results in Karnataka threw up a huge surprise on Tuesday with the Opposition Congress party wresting the prestigious Hangal Assembly seat from the ruling BJP which won Sindagi- earlier held by the JD(S) by a huge margin of 31,000 votes. For the Congress, the Han- gal win was a bonus as it had not won either of the seats in the 2018 Assembly elections.

The loss in Hangal-a seat held by late BJP MLA and former minister C.M. Udasi, is consid- ered a slap on the face for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the constituency lies adjacent to his own seat-Shiggaon in Haveri district. It has raised questions over the poll winning abilities of the CM and more so after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s declaration in Davange- re a few months ago that Bom- mai would lead the BJP into the 2023 elections.

Will the BJP top brass persist with Bommai in the hope that he will emerge as an alternative Lingayat leader replacing B.S. Yediyurappa or do a rethink on the issue now, remains to be seen. “It is a wakeup call for the CM as he has failed to retain Han- gal which was won by the BJP’s Udasi in 2018. When he cannot win Hangal, the hometown of his wife, Chennamma, how can he steer the party to victory in 224 Assembly seats in the coming Assembly elections”, wondered a miffed senior BJP leader from North-Karnataka.

The BJP’s reluctance to give the Hangal ticket to a family member of the Udasis and cash in on the sympathy factor, also seems to have damaged its poll prospects. In Hangal, the BJP’s Shivaraj Sajjanar lost to Srinivasa Mane of the Congress with Sajjanar polling 79,515 votes against Mane’s 87,113.

Niyaz Sheikh of the JD(S) had to be content with just 921 votes. For the JD(S), the bypolls were a big disappoint- ment with its candidates in both Hangal and Sindagi losing their deposits. Going by the vot- ing pattern, the JD(S) also failed miserably to cut into the minor- ity vote in either constituency which would have benefited the saffron party-an allegation Con- gress leaders had made during the campaign.