AT A TIME when sexual assault allegations towards outstanding JD(S) chief Prajwal Revanna have overtaken the state’s political scene, there’s a new pleasure on this constituency in central Karnataka for the approaching elections.
The reason is the 2 girls debutantes within the fray from the Davanagere Lok Sabha seat, which votes on Could 7 – the BJP’s Gayathri Siddeshwar, 69, and the Congress’s Dr Prabha Mallikarjun, 48. Each belong to outstanding political Lingayat households, with Gayathri the spouse of sitting Davanagere MP G M Siddeshwara and Prabha the spouse of state Congress minister S S Mallikarjun and the daughter-in-law of Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who on the age of 92 was re-elected to the state Meeting final 12 months.
Referred to as the ‘Manchester of Karnataka’ for its massive cotton manufacturing, Davanagere is marked by the political rivalry between the Siddeshwara and Shamanur households, going again to the late ’90s. Whereas the Lok Sabha constituency has been gained the previous 5 occasions by G M Siddeshwara (he isn’t contesting this time ostensibly resulting from well being causes, although the worry of anti-incumbency can be seen as an element), the Shamanur household has all the time gained the Vidhan Sabha elections right here.
About 30 km from Davanagere city, within the village of Mayakonda, 4 girls seated in a verandah are having a heated dialogue about Gayathri and Prabha. Sharada, who hails from the Golla group, says: “With girls as leaders, it’s simpler for us to open up about our issues. They will empathize with us. No matter the Congress or the BJP, we are able to hope to be heard, particularly on the problems of finance and well being.”
Nirmala, who’s working within the fields in Mayakonda village and belongs to the Madiga SC group, says that in addition to the girl issue, she’s going to select Prabha due to Congress ensures akin to Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya and Gruha Jyoti. “This has helped me save and made me financially unbiased,” she says.
Even the lads are wanting ahead to Gayathri and Prabha as “recent faces” with a brand new perspective.
Whereas noting that the 2 girls candidates belong to previous political households of the area, Siddesh, a social employee and a local of Harapanahalli, says: “It’s positively a welcome transfer.”
Nonetheless, Srinath Reddy, a farmer belonging to Harapanahalli, says that for the Lok Sabha polls, what ought to matter are “nationwide points” and “nationwide management”. “I feel the BJP has carried out higher on this. I even have reservations about selecting candidates who lack political and administrative expertise.”
Davanagere Lok Sabha seat
If Gayathri is speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and husband Siddeshwara’s works in her marketing campaign, Prabha is making guarantees akin to remodeling Davanagere into an IT-industry hub. “The Congress authorities will carry funding and faucet the potential of small-scale entrepreneurs,” she informed The Indian Express, including that roads had been one other precedence for her.
Up towards the 2 girls candidates is Congress insurgent Vinay Kumar, a Kuruba, who’s contesting as an Unbiased after being denied a ticket by the get together. Kumar is a outstanding face too, being the founder-director of Insights Energetic Studying (Insights IAS), a widely known academy coaching civil servant aspirants.
Kumar’s presence within the race might harm Prabha’s possibilities because the Kuruba vote, which typically goes to the Congress with its Chief Minister Siddaramaiah the group’s tallest chief, is prone to get break up.
The Davanagere constituency is dominated by the Lingayats (each Panchamasali and Sadara); adopted by the SC teams Lambanis, Gollas, Bhovis and Madigas; the Valmiki Nayaks (who’re tribals); and Muslims.
Whereas the BJP is assured of consolidating the Lingayat votes in its favour, with B S Yediyurappa again within the get together saddle within the state, the SCs and STs favour the Congress. The Siddaramaiah authorities’s ensures are seen as having additional consolidated assist for the get together among the many backward.
The goodwill for the Shamanur household owing to the SSIMS Hospital managed by them is one other plus for the Congress.
In final 12 months’s Meeting elections, the Congress gained seven of the eight Meeting segments falling beneath the Davanagere Lok Sabha constituency.
Nonetheless, the get together comes into the battle with the information that the Lok Sabha seat has remained out of its attain. “When Mallikarjunappa (Siddeshwara’s father and former Davanagere MP) handed away, the sympathy issue labored for the BJP. Later, the get together reaped political dividends because of the Modi wave and the surgical strike towards Pakistan,” says district Congress chief H B Manjappa.
Nonetheless, the chief provides, they’re most assured about this election. “Given the Karnataka Congress ensures and the get together’s manifesto guarantees for the youth, girls and migrant employees, we’ve got an edge. Whereas Kumar would possibly trigger a 5-10% dent in votes, it’s going to have an effect on each the BJP and Congress. And we’re satisfied that the ensures have transcended past communities, giving us a major benefit.”
BJP district president Rajashekar counters, “The BJP is preventing this battle in alliance with the JD(S), which has over 1.5 lakh votes within the area. Furthermore, Davanagere has benefited from the event works applied by the Modi authorities, together with railway connectivity between Tumkur and Davanagere.”
Lingappa, a migrant labourer within the Mayakonda village, says he has heard in regards to the Modi authorities’s schemes. “Nonetheless, not all are reaching the poor like us. Furthermore, Siddeshwara has failed to deal with points akin to water disaster, unemployment, healthcare, housing throughout his five-time tenure as an MP. We’re in determined want for change.”