Karnataka - Bellary   

Delimitation ends hegemony of some families in Bellary district

BELLARY: The delimitation of constituencies has not only put an end to the domination of forward castes, but also the political hegemony of some powerful families in Bellary district.

Seven of the nine Assembly constituencies, including the Bellary Lok Sabha seat, have been reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, heralding new political equations.

With Sandur and Hadagali becoming reserved constituencies and Kurugodu going out of existence, at least four families who have been very active all these days have had to re-strategise their political future.

Sandur, for example, has been the bastion of the former Finance Minister M.Y. Ghorpade, who had the unique distinction of representing this rural constituency, endowed with bountiful iron ore and manganese ore reserves, for a record seven times. Now, if any family member wants to continue in the tradition, they cannot, because of the changes brought about by the delimitation. The exit of Ghorpades led to the entry of Lad brothers — Santosh and Anil — in the 2004 election.

Flush with the affluence brought about by the boom in iron ore prices, the two brothers succeeded in winning from Sandur and Kudlilgi constituencies on the Janata Dal (S) and BJP ticket.

Now, delimitation has forced them to move out and seek new constituencies. Both the brothers have joined the Congress, and while Mr. Anil Lad is taking on the powerful Reddy family, which has considerable financial clout again because of the mining, Mr. Santosh Lad has managed to get the Congress ticket from Kalghatgi in Dharwad district, notwithstanding the fact that he is an “outsider”.

Hadagali had been the political bastion of the former Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash since 1983. Here too, delimitation has sent Mr. Prakash to Harpanahalli in neighbouring Davangere district.

He faces Karunakara Reddy of the Reddy clan, the BJP MP for Bellary.

In the case of the family of Allum Veerabhadrappa, the former KPCC chief, too it has been the end of the political road with the elimination of Kurugodu constituency. This leaves the Reddy family, who are relative newcomers to politics.

While the former Minister B. Sriramulu is contesting from Bellary Rural, his brother is being fielded from Bellary.

Yet another family which continues to be in politics is that of the Singhs in Hospet, who used to run a bus transport network and are now miners.

Starting from Satyanarayan Singh in 1970, the tradition has continued, with two of the Singh siblings facing each other in Hospet, renamed as Vijayanagar, in the current election. One more to make a mark in the political life of the district is the Mundlur family.

Diwakar Babu from the family is contesting the Bellary seat on the Janata Dal (S) ticket.

The family of Gaviappa from Hospet, a relative of H.G. Ramulu, an excise contractor from the neighbouring Koppal district, and the Murari family, also from Hospet, are also in the poll fray.

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