At present, the Congress appears to be in a comfortable position, when with compared with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the election to the Lok Sabha from Ballari constituency.
The Congress, which lost the Lok Sabha seat (held by it from 1952 to 2000) in 2004 to the BJP, had to struggle and managed to regain it in the byelection held recently. This came as a morale booster for the rank and file of the Congress in the district.
This apart, the Congress — which continued to enjoy its electoral base even when the BJP, under the stewardship of Reddy brothers, dominated in the district — began consolidating its position since the 2013 elections to the Legislative Assembly.
To the Congress’ luck, the popularity and domination of the Reddy brothers waned, especially after the arrest of G. Janardhana Reddy on the charge of illegal mining.
The Congress, which had won five seats in the 2013 elections (an increase of four from the 2008 elections) not only increased its tally to six in the 2018 elections but also wrested the Lok Sabha seat.
A study of the electoral statistics of the 2018 Assembly elections and the byelection to the Lok Sabha held in November, indicates that the BJP lost 1.31 lakh votes during the byelection. On the other hand, the Congress gained 90,000 votes. Another notable feature was that the Congress secured a lead in all the eight Assembly segments that are part of the Lok Sabha constituency, including the two held by it — Ballari and Kudligi.
The outcome of the two Assembly elections (2013 and 2018) and also the defeat the BJP suffered in the byelection to the Lok Sabha, indicate that the Reddy brothers and B. Sriramulu, State vice-president of the BJP, are losing their hold on the district. The party, in a way, has also clipped the wings of Mr. Sriramulu by appointing the former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar as in charge of Ballari district.
