HUBLI, ENN Exclusive
Has Congress conceded the Hubli Dharwad Central seat to the BJP Chief Minister Mr. Jagadish Shettar already even before first salvo of the electoral battle is fired?
It appears so judging from the manner in which the Congress High Command after due deliberation has finalised the party candidature to take on Mr. Shettar, who is eyeing for an unbroken fifth term in the assembly from this constituency.
The man chosen to take the Chief Minister is a doctor Dr Nalwad. For all his professional experience, he is a green horn, new to politics and public life.
The Congress obviously has chosen to field a lingayat to take on a fellow lingayat in the electoral battle. But the electoral history of the constituency tells a different story that lingayat has never won against Shettar and only non Lingayats in general and the OBC in particular has some chance to give a fight.
Taking on Shettar is not easy as has been evidenced in the just concluded elections to the urban local bodies. The assembly constituency comprises exclusively of the nineteen of the 67 wards of the Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation. Even after the KJP had nibbled away 1,000 votes, BJP had over 14,000 lead over the Congress in the area. More voters are expected to go the BJP way in the forthcoming elections.
Two questions continue to plague mind of the people. Firstly, why the Congress High Command chose to ignore the writing on the wall and secondly if it was bent on fielding a lingayat, why it could not find a “weighty” lingayat instead of plumping for a light weight candidate?
(ENN , Published on March 14, 2013)
