Karnataka - Bellary   

Seven of the nine Assembly constituencies here are reserved

BELLARY: The political situation in iron-ore-rich Bellary district is in a churn after the delimitation exercise.

The character and face of almost all the Assembly constituencies have been changed. As many as seven of the total nine Assembly constituencies have been reserved for Scheduled Castes (two) and Scheduled Tribes (five).

The political future of several prominent leaders belonging to the forward communities is now uncertain as they have been forced to find new constituencies.

Another impact of the delimitation process has been the search for new faces from among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by political parties.

Till now, with all the Assembly constituencies remaining unreserved, leaders from the Scheduled Castes had not emerged, although there were some Scheduled Tribe politicians representing some of constituencies.

B. Sriramulu, former Minister for Tourism and BJP leader, and M.S. Somalingappa, both belonging to ST (Valmiki Naik community) represented Bellary (city) and Sirguppa Assembly constituencies respectively in the previous Assembly.

Earlier, N.T. Bommanna of the same community had been elected twice from Kudligi on the Congress ticket. Except Bellary (city) and Vijayanagar (Hospet city), the constituencies of Hadagali and Hagari Bommanahalli have been reserved for Scheduled Castes, and Sirguppa, Sandur, Kudligi, Kampli and Bellary (Rural) for Scheduled Tribes.

Besides, the delimitation of constituencies has also put an end to the political hegemony of at least a few families in a couple of Assembly constituencies in the district.

With Kampli (which was earlier Kurgodu constituency in Bellary taluk) Sandur and Kudligi being reserved for Scheduled Tribes, the families of Allum Veerabhadrappa, the Ghorpades (who have been representing Kurgodu and Sandur respectively for over three decades) and the Lads (mine owners, who entered active politics in 2004) are unable to contest this election from these constituencies and have been forced to go in search of new ones.

Even former Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash’s constituency Hadagali, which he has been nurturing since 1978, has now been reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Mr. Prakash has chosen Harpanahalli in Davangere district, which is adjacent to Hadagali, as his constituency and has sought the Congress ticket.

The Lad brothers, Anil and Santosh, too have joined the Congress and sought ticket from Bellary (city) and Kalghatgi in Dharwad district respectively.

After the delimitation, Bellary district got an additional constituency, taking the number to nine.

There are 14.82 lakh voters — 7.43 lakh men and 7.38 lakh women in the district.

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