The BJP has rushed two senior leaders to Belagavi to settle the differences that have arisen between leaders of various factions.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and state unit vice-president Nirmal Kumar Surana held a meeting of the district core committee that includes elected representatives and other leaders.
After the meeting, Mr Joshi said that the BJP first list will be out by April 8. He said that there is neither a crisis in the district BJP nor confusion regarding ticket distribution.
“It is just that there is a lot of competition among candidates for party ticket, as they know that we will emerge as the biggest party in the next polls,” he said.
Most of the MPs, MLAs and other senior leaders were present in the meeting held in a private resort in Belagavi.
Party sources said that Mr. Surana asked workers in Athani to remain united and not to be misled by rumours about party ticket.
One of the leaders raised the issue of confusion over finalising ticket in Athani, currently held by Mahesh Kumthalli, a loyalist of the former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi.
The seat was vacated after Mr. Kumthalli’s defection to the saffron party.
The former Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Laxman Savadi was made a Legislative Council member in the 2020 elections. However, the two factions led by Mr. Jarkiholi and Mr. Savadi have been at loggerheads over the Athani ticket.
Mr. Savadi has held separate meetings in the taluk to seek the opinion of his voters about his candidature.
Mr. Jarkiholi has publicly stated that if Mr. Kumthalli is not given ticket, he will not contest from Gokak, a seat that he has held from 1999.
One of the leaders said that the internal voting among BJP workers to select the candidate for Athani was not properly held. He said that leaders who were in charge of the elections tried to favour Mr. Savadi. Mr. Surana said that all such issues will be looked into.
Heated discussions
Meanwhile, a meeting called to discuss ticket distribution in Bengaluru on Sunday witnessed heated discussions between Mr. Jarkiholi and Iranna Kadadi.
The sources said that Mr. Jarkiholi got upset when Mr. Kadadi suggested that a Panchamasali leader should be nominated from the Arabavi constituency in Belagavi that is unreserved.
Mr. Kadadi argued that Arabavi is one of the five constituencies in Belagavi district that has a higher Panchamasali population.
He said that general category candidates should be fielded from unreserved seats. He also suggested that Balachandra Jarkiholi, a Scheduled Tribes community leader, be fielded from Yamkanmaradi and not Arabavi.
“This angered Mr. Jarkiholi who then shouted at Mr. Kadadi asking him not to comment on the political issues related to the Jarkiholi brothers. He asked him to give his suggestions about seats that are not held by the brothers,” a party leader who attended the Bengaluru meeting said.
Mr. Jarkiholi‘s brother and Valmiki Nayak community leader Balachandra Jarkiholi is the MLA from Arabavi. Mr. Jarkiholi has been elected from Gokak, an unreserved constituency. The only constituency reserved for ST candidates is Yamkanmaradi, held by Satish Jarkiholi, KPCC working president and the younger brother of Mr. Jarkiholi.
