Cong mascot makes up for lost time

The Congress seems to have made its moves well by fielding Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge from Chittapur in Gulbarga district.

The Congress seems to have made its moves well by fielding Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge from Chittapur in Gulbarga district. Kharge, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief who is touted to be the next chief minister if the party wins, is gunning for his ninth consecutive assembly poll victory. That makes the Congress look good in this seat8212;good enough for the JDU candidate to switch over to the Congress on Monday; earlier an Independent candidate had also crossed over.

Kharge had to file his nomination papers from Chittapur after his native Gurmitkal was made a general seat from the earlier reserved category. Three-time Congress MLA and former minister Baburao Chinchanchor from Chittapur is contesting from Gurmitkal. The JDS8217;s Vishwanath Hebbal managed to upset Chinchanchor in 2004, but cannot contest this time since Chittapur is now a reserved seat.

Kharge has managed to trigger an exodus from the JDS. So far, two senior Gulbarga zilla panchayat members and five Chittapur taluka panchayat members moved to the Congress along with JDS district vice-president, Lingareddy Bosereddy. On Monday, the JDU candidate, Savita Rathod, announced her withdrawal. 8220;Mr Kharge is capable of doing great work in Chittapur and we felt it was better to back him,8221; she said. Rathod said she was touted to be the JDS candidate but they refused her a ticket.

Chittarpur has been complaining of bad roads and poor connectivity for several years now. The main road connecting Chittapur to a state highway was started only two months ago under the Governor8217;s rule. A resident said, 8220;We had earlier decided to vote for the party who built us the main road. But it turns out we cannot vote for the Governor.8221; People also complained that their children had to go as far as Gulbarga, 60 km away, for higher education and that there were very few government schools.

Kharge made his first visit to Chittapur only two days ago but is already making waves. In Hodegal village, a few km from Chittapur town, Kharge held a small public meeting. Shivanna, a farmer said, 8220;He has worked hard to improve Gurmitkal and we believe he can do the same for us. He is, after all, the KPCC president.8221;

However, the BJP thinks Kharge will be bad for Chittapur. On Monday, their candidate Valmiki Naik was preparing for his third round of Chittapur8217;s 102 villages. S.V. Bhaskara, a Chittpur resident, said, 8220;The BJP tells us that Kharge is a man used to air conditioned cars and prefers Bangalore. They say that Naik is a man who would stay in Chittapur with us and work for us.8221;

Kharge8217;s presence has senior leaders from all three major parties making a beeline to Chittapur in the recent past. For the Congress, Roshan Baig held a public meeting on Sunday and C.M. Ibrahim held one on Monday as Chittapur has a considerable Muslim population. For the BJP, the campaigners have included the party8217;s Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde, B.S. Yeddyurappa and Sadanand Gowda. No one has turned up from the JDS yet. But JD S supporters insist H.D. Kumaraswamy is expected anytime.