The Hindu : Karnataka / Bijapur News : Congress draws a blank in Bagalkot

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Saturday, May 15, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bijapur

Congress draws a blank in Bagalkot

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIJAPUR, MAY 14. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come up with a spectacular performance in the Assembly elections by winning seven of the eight Assembly seats coming under the Bagalkot Lok Sabha Constituency.

The ruling Congress drew a blank as the Janata Dal (Secular) won the other seat.

The Congress won the Lok Sabha seat and seven Assembly seats in 1999. This time, the party received a shock as all its candidates lost by huge margins.

The Minister for Planning and Institutional Finance and Bagalkot district in-charge, R.B. Thimmapur, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP candidate, Govind Karjol, in the Mudhol Assembly Constituency. Mr. Karjol lost to Mr. Thimmapur by a narrow margin in 1999. This time, Mr. Karjol polled 71,818 votes and Mr. Thimmapur 38,872.

In Jamkhandi, the BJP's Siddu Savadi defeated the three-time MLA and Chairman of the Warehousing Corporation, R.M. Kaluti, by 33,321 votes. Mr. Savadi polled 73,223 votes.

In Bilagi, Murgesh Nirani of the BJP defeated the two-time MLA, J.T. Patil, by 17,325 votes. Mr. Nirani secured 68,136 votes, while Mr. Patil got 50,811.

What humiliated the Congress was the defeat in the Bagalkot seat. Veeranna Charanthimath of the BJP won there, pushing the Congress candidate, Ajaykumar Sarnaik, former Minister, to the third position. The BJP rebel and former MLA, P.H. Pujar, finished second by securing 29,075 votes.

Mr. Charanthimath got 34,537 votes, while Mr. Sarnaik polled 28,878.

Badami was another segment that unnerved Congressmen. The five-time MLA and former Minister, B.B. Chimmanakatti, was trounced by the BJP's M.K. Pattanashetti by a margin of 19,001 votes.

In Hungund, where the Congress defeated the BJP by 10,000 votes in the by-election held just eight months ago, Doddangouda Gundanagouda Patil of the latter defeated the member of dissolved Assembly, Gouramma Kashappanavar, by 18,424 votes.

The former Minister and Janata Dal (S) candidate, H.Y. Methi, won in Guledgudda, where the Congress candidate, S.G. Nanjaiahnmath, finished third.

While Mr. Methi secured 30,832 votes, his nearest BJP rival, Rajshekhar Shilvantha, got 29,423.

Mr. Nanjaiahnmath, who headed the Krishna Command Area Development Authority, got 23,520 votes. The Congress candidate, G.S. Patil, whose elder brother, R.S. Patil, lost in the Bagalkot Lok Sabha Constituency, won the Ron Assembly seat. Kalakappa Gurushanthappa Bandi of the BJP won the seat by securing 46,733 votes. Mr. G.S. Patil polled 38,668 votes.

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Congress draws a blank in Bagalkot