The Hindu : Lobbying on in Congress in Belgaum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Belgaum

Lobbying on in Congress in Belgaum

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELGAUM, MARCH 2. The Congress workers in Belgaum will rather wait for the party High Command to announce the party candidate for the (Belgaum) Lok Sabha seat than throw any light on the selection.

They appear to be engaged in a guessing game on the prospects of the party fielding the member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, Amarsinh Patil.

His prospects to get the party ticket for the second time, the party sources said, has become doubtful with many legislators, leaders and workers opposing his candidature.

Thus, the Minister of State for Information Technology, D.B. Inamdar, is seen as a possible alternative as the member of the dissolved Assembly from Belgaum city, Ramesh Kudachi, is not keen on trying his luck in the Lok Sabha elections as he is said to have expressed the desire to contest for the Assembly seat again.

But Muslims also have staked their claim to the party ticket. As the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has submitted the list of aspirants to the party High Command, hectic lobbying is on in the party.

The situation is similar in the Janata Dal (S) camp in the district. Its senior leader and former Union Minister, Baba- gouda Patil, is said to have declined to enter the fray this time. Apparently, the party sou- rces agree, the chances of his winning the polls have diminished because of the relatively weak support in the district.

The All India Progressive Janata Dal appears to be completely wiped out with four of its six legislators joining the Congress. The two others joined the BJP. The member of the dissolved Lok Sabha from Chikkodi (R) constituency has also joined BJP.

Yet the en masse defection of these legislators and the MP do not seem to have given any advantage to the Janata Dal (S). Thus the electoral prospects of the Janata Dal (S) appear to be bleak. However, interestingly, the party's senior member, Jagdish Patil, has expressed the desire to try his luck.

The BJP is said to have decided in favour of Suresh Angadi. The party workers have launched the election campaign in the constituency. The announcement of his name along with other candidates will only be a formality, according to the party sources.

In fact, all those candidates who are said to have been selected for the Lok Sabha polls have taken up campaigning but the party is yet to announce their names for tactical reasons.

Significantly, the decision of the Shiv Sena to field a candidate for both the Belgaum Lok Sabha and Assembly seats is being seen as a thorn in the BJP's flesh.

Its presence in the electoral battle is bound to make a difference to the prospects of the BJP putting the Congress in an advantageous situation. However, the possibility of a compromise or alliance is not ruled out at the moment.

Interestingly, though the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi has announced that it will field its candidate for the Belgaum Lok Sabha seat, it remains to be seen whether this is only a pre-poll stunt.

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