Sindgi, the last taluk of Bombay-Karnataka (soon to be renamed Kittur Karnataka) region on the north-eastern side, is among the two bypoll-bound constituencies, the other being Hangal. It is going to the polls nearly 10 months after the death of its MLA.
It has also attracted attention as it is among the few seats in North Karnataka to have elected Janata Parivar-Janata Dal-Janata Dal(S) candidates three times since Independence. It was also the only seat to elect a Janata Dal(S) candidate when the BJP won all the other seats in the district in 2018.
Mallappa Channaveerappa Manguli was 84 when he died in office in January. He was a veteran Janata Parivar leader who had won twice from his home constituency. A close follower of Ramakrishna Hegde, he won in 2018, when he was among its oldest members, at 79.
The voters have re-elected legislators four times. Of the 16 polls held so far, three leaders were elected more than once. Shankargouda Patil was elected as a Congress and Congress-Organisation candidate, Channappa Madiwalappa Desai was elected twice as a Congress nominee, M.C. Managuli as a Janata Dal and Janata Dal(S) candidate but Ramesh Bhusnur was elected once as a BJP candidate and another time as a Congress nominee.
When it was a double-member constituency in the first polls in 1951, Mallappa Surpur was elected from the general seat and Jattappa Kabadi from the reserved seat. As part of Mysore State, Sindgi sent Shankargouda Patil and C.M. Desai to Bengaluru between 1957 and 1972.
As part of Karnataka State, Ninganaguoda Patil of the Congress was elected in 1983, Mallanagouda Doulataraya Biradar of the Janata Party in 1985, R.B. Choudhari of the Congress in 1989, S.T. Sunagar of the Congress in 1999. A.G. Shabadi won as a BJP nominee in 2004. The BJP chose Ramesh Bhusnur as its candidate in the next polls in 2008.
Sindgi has around 2.4 lakh voters. It is one of the eight Assembly seats in the Vijayapura Parliamentary Constituency. Political parties consider Sindgi as an other backward classes (OBC) seat. Of the around four lakh population, Scheduled Castes constitute around 21% and minorities around 18%, as per the census. According to political strategists, upper castes constitute less than five per cent of the population and the rest, around 55%, are all OBCs. The higher than average minority population helped the voters elect a Muslim leader Bekinalkar Maibubsaheb Hasansanheb of the Congress(I) in 1978.
Senior leaders of most parties have been camping in Sindgi for nearly a fortnight now. Various strategies, including social engineering techniques, are being tried out to win over the electors. Polling is scheduled for October 30.
