The Hindu : Opposition hardly in a position to challenge Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 22, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Opposition hardly in a position to challenge Congress

By M. Madan Mohan

GADAG, MARCH 21. Gadag is the only district of the three carved out of what was earlier the undivided Dharwad district that has remained as a strong fortress of the Congress. The dominance of the Congress is so pronounced that the other parties are hardly in a position to challenge its primacy.

The only party that attempted to challenge the hegemony of Congress was the Janata Dal, but the split in its ranks has put an end to that challenge. The BJP does not have much of a presence in the district.

Gadag district has five Assembly segments that are split among four parliamentary constituencies, namely, Dharwad North (Gadag and Nargund), Dharwad South (Shirahatti), Koppal (Mundargi) and Bagalkot (Ron). The Congress had secured around 52 per cent of the valid votes polled in the Assembly and parliamentary elections held in 1999. Barring Mundargi, where the BJP was almost level, the Congress left its main challengers far behind in the other four Assembly segments in the parliamentary elections. In the Assembly elections, the Congress lost the Mundargi seat by a margin of 2,000 votes, while it overwhelmed its opponents in the four other constituencies. The BJP contested only in Shirahatti and Nargund, where it polled only a few votes. The Janata Dal (S) came second in Nargund and Ron.

Gadag was the hometown of the veteran Congressman of yesteryear, the late K.H. Patil. After his death in 1992, his nephew, D.R. Patil, and his son, H.K. Patil, Agriculture Minister, have nursed the constituency.

K.H. Patil made his debut on a non-Congress plank, when he won as an independent candidate in 1967. He joined the Congress and won again in 1972. After that he lost only one election and represented Gadag till 1992, when he died before completing the term.

D.R. Patil won the 1992 byelection and subsequent elections with an improvement in the margin of victory in 1994 and 1999.

H.K. Patil, who dreamt of making his hometown a district headquarters, could not realise his dream during his lifetime. But he had laid the foundation for its development.

Mundargi, Ron and Nargund have been with Congress, except in three elections, while Shirhattti has elected both Congress and non-Congress candidates right from 1957.

Congress circles in Gadag district are not very happy over the admission of S.S. Patil, former Janata Dal Minister, from Mundargi. Pressure is being brought to bear within the party to ensure that he is not nominated him this time.

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