Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Tough fight between BJP, Congress in Karnataka’s Belgaum

Voting for the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 18 and April 23. The results will be declared on May 23.

The Belgaum parliamentary constituency in Karnataka may see a stiff contest between the Congress and the BJP this year.

Bengaluru: Voters show their ID cards as they wait in a queue to cast vote at a polling station, during the 2nd phase of Lok Sabha elections in Bengaluru, Thursday, April 18, 2019. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)(PTI4_18_2019_000121B) (PTI)

The former stronghold of the Congress, Belgaum has seen the Bharatiya Janata Party winning on the seat thrice in a row since 2004. The last Lok Sabha election that the Congress won in the Belgaum seat was in 1999.

Belgaum, which has highest number of candidates 57 contesting this year, has a substantial Marathi population. According to the 2011 census, 60% of the district’s population is Marathi-speaking.

The presence of a large Marathi speaking population has been a cause of friction between Karnataka and Maharashtra and the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti had demanded Belgaum’s merger with Maharashtra.

Voting for the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 18 and April 23. The results will be declared on May 23.

READ: All about Lok Sabha elections 2019

Here are a few details about the Lok Sabha seat:

State: Karnataka

Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Belgaum

Polling date: April 23

2019 candidates: Angadi Suresh Channabasappa (BJP), Virupakshi Sadhunnavar (Congress)

Sitting MP, party: Angadi Suresh Channabasappa, BJP

Winning margin in 2014: 75,860

Runner up name, party: Laxmi R Hebbalkar, Congress

Number of voters in 2014: 1,078,547

Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 68.22%

Number of women voters in 2014: 773,419

Number of polling booths in 2014: 1,873