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MES loses all 6 seats, but gives tough fight to BJP, Congress
According to experts the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) has come back stronger and have given a tough fight to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Belagavi district.
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a regional outfit at the forefront of the agitation of Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka, lost all the six seats it contested in the recent assembly elections – the results of which were announced on Saturday.
Experts, however, said that the party has come back stronger and have given a tough fight to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Belagavi district.
Founded in 1951, the MES was built around the agenda of merging all Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka with Maharashtra. In the 2023 elections, it contested six seats in the district – Belagavi South, Belagavi North, Belagavi Rural, Khanapur, Nipani and Yamkanmardi assembly constituencies compared to only five seats in 2018.
Even though they did not win a single seat in the district, the MES candidates made the win tougher for the Congress and the BJP in at least two seats, considering the vote margin, political observer and senior journalist Ashok Chandargi, said.
In Belagavi South, BJP MLA Abhay Patil defeated the nearest candidate MES’ Ramakant Konduskar by a margin of 12,000 votes – much lower than the margin of 58,000 votes in 2018. Meanwhile, MD Lakshminarayan, a candidate from Congress was the nearest candidate in 2018.
Konduskar polled 41% of the total votes this year, as compared to Prakash Appaji Maragale who was MES’ candidate in 2018 with a vote share of 14.68%.
“In 2013, the MES candidates were elected in two constituencies – Khanapur and Belagavi South due to the division of Kannada votes. However, they lost all seats in 2018. Later in 2021, they lost miserably in Belagavi City Corporation elections, and it was an insult to them as they had ruled it completely earlier. But they started uniting after that,” political observer and senior journalist Ashok Chandargi, said.
“In Belagavi South, the candidate is not from the MES. He is former member of right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene. He campaigned on the basis of Hindutva noting that the constituency is a Hindutva belt. There was also anti-incumbency. This added to his advantage,” Chandargi pointed out.
According to experts, MES was the reason behind split of votes between Congress and BJP this time.
“In both these constituencies, the MES got very good votes because of the support of Maharashtra leaders. Even though they have been defeated, they have come back stronger than earlier. They have given a very good fight,” Chandargi said.
In the run up to the elections, MES had appealed to the political leaders from Maharashtra not to campaign for their parties in constituencies it is contesting from, contending that it could hurt their prospects. However, several Maharashtra leaders from both the BJP and Congress campaigned against MES.
Congress had deputed its leaders and former Maharashtra chief ministers Prithviraj Chauhan and Ashok Chavan for campaigning. Maharashtra chief minister Ekanath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis from the BJP had also campaigned against MES. The MES workers had staged protests and waived black flags at the leaders when they arrived for campaigning.
“MES tried to capitalised on the border issue, but they are not getting any success. They are only looking to keep the issue alive for political reasons. The Marathas also know this and that there is nothing in their contention,” Chandargi added.
Belagavi district with 18 assembly seats has the second largest number of assembly constituencies after Bangaluru urban. Of these 18 seats, Congress won 11, while the BJP managed to win seven.
