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Karnataka polls: Jarkiholi brothers romp home as BJP, Congress candidates
Ramesh Jarkiholi led the legislators whose resignations in 2019 led to Congress-JD(S) government’s fall and paved the way for the BJP’s return to power
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Brothers Ramesh Jarkiholi and Balachandra Jarkiholi won the Karnataka assembly polls on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tickets while their other sibling Satish Jarkiholi romped home as a Congress nominee in the state’s Belagavi district.
Ramesh Jarkiholi was a minister in the previous Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) coalition government before joining the BJP. He led the legislators whose resignations in 2019 led to Congress-JD(S) government’s fall and paved the way for the BJP’s return to power in the state.
In return, he was given a say in the distribution of tickets in the Belagavi district. He is believed to have picked six of the 18 BJP candidates in the district including Balachandra Jarkiholi.
In the 2018 polls, the BJP won 13 of 18 seats in the district. This time the party has been able to win only seven seats.
In Gokak, Ramesh Jarkiholi registered a comfortable victory, defeating Congress’s Mahantesh Kadadi. Balchandra Jarkiholi defeated Congress’s Arvind Dalvai in neighbouring Arabhavi. Satish Jarkiholi won the Yamkanmardi seat.
Ramesh Jarkiholi’s aide Mahesh Kumathalli (BJP) lost to Laxman Savadi, who switched to the Congress before the polls. Savadi was among the leaders who quit the BJP over ticket denial.
During electioneering, Ramesh Jarkiholi said their primary aim was not to ensure a BJP victory but to defeat Savadi and another Congress candidate Laxmi Hebbalkar.
He compared Hebbalkar to a poisonous snake and vowed not only to outspend her but defeat her. Ramesh Jarkiholi promised to cut the long size of Savadi’s kurtas and reduce them to blouses.
Nagesh Manolkar, who was given a BJP ticket on Ramesh Jarkiholi’s recommendation, finished third behind Hebbalkar and independent candidate R M Chougule in Belgaum Rural.
The BJP also lost the Kagwad seat, where the BJP fielded Shrimant Patil at Ramesh Jarkiholi’s behest, to Congress’s Bharamgouda Kage. Patil was among the Congress lawmakers who switched to the BJP in 2019.
Elsewhere in Belagavi, BJP’s Shashikala Jolle won the Nippani seat. In Khanapur, BJP’s Vithal Hagelkar defeated Congress’s Anjali Nimbalkar.
