After decades of language-based campaigns, the Belagavi City Corporation may be heading for an election that would be fought on party affiliations. Polling is on September 3 and counting of votes on September 6. The poll notification was issued on Monday.
Leaders of all the three major parties held meetings on Belagavi on Monday, about the polls.
This is probably the first time in decades that the Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal(S) plan to field their candidates in the urban local body elections, say political observers.
Some even say the that polls were never fought on party ticket. “This is probably the first time that the big parties are entering the fray openly,’’ said Uday Kinjwadkar, writer and a chronicler of Belagavi.
“The only thing that mattered for the council elections was language. Candidates identified themselves as members of Kannada, Marathi and Urdu groups and that is what seemed to have swayed the voters,’’ he said.
BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel addressed leaders and members of the party city unit. In a meeting at Dharmanath Bhavan, the leader asked workers to ensure that the next Mayor of Belagavi was an ordinary BJP worker.
“It is true that we have not fought the city corporation polls on party ticket till now. But we should not worry about what happened in the past. We have to focus on the future,’’ he said. He asked workers to highlight the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government and the BJP government in the State.
Despite the apparent confidence shown at the meeting, it is believed that the BJP is worried about the negative impact of the presence of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and the Shiv Sena.
“At least some BJP leaders are worried that the MES and Shiv Sena may be trying to bite into the BJP’s voter kitty. That is one reason why senior leaders Mr. Nalin Kumar Kateel, Govind Karjol and Umesh Katti were invited to speak at the party workers meeting in Belagavi on Monday. City-based legislators Abhay Patil and Anil Benake were asked not only to motivate their workers but also to announce a target for the number of seats they will win for the party,’’ said a BJP leader who is in-charge of the city unit.
Congress leader M.B. Patil and Members of Parliament L. Hanumanthaiah and Syed Naseer Hussein held meetings with local leaders. KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi, Member of Legislative Assembly Lakshmi Hebbalkar and the former MLA Firoze Sait and others were present. Party sources said that some workers, however, spoke against fighting the polls on party ticket.
Janata Dal (Secular) district president Pramod Patil held a meeting with senior leaders Faizulla Madiwale, Murugesh Hiremath and Santosh Upadhyaya. He announced later that the party will field its candidates from all 58 wards.
Two other players, the Aam Admi Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, want to enter the hustings too. AAP leaders from Bengaluru and Dharwad have held meetings in the past. AIMIM is planning ward level rallies.
