Battle for Belagavi: Karnataka ministers in behind-the-scene tussle over Cong LS ticket for children

Satish Jarkiholi is close to CM Siddaramaiah, while Lakshmi Hebbalkar is close to Dy CM Shivakumar. Both are looking to extend their influence over Belagavi district with 18 Assembly segments

Sources said Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi (left) and Women and Child Development Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar are lobbying to secure the ticket for their children, Priyanka and Mrinal, respectively. (File Photos)

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The race to the Lok Sabha ticket for the Belagavi constituency in Karnataka is turning out to be a major headache for the state Congress unit, months after the party registered a landslide win in the state elections.

According to sources, two prominent leaders from the district, who are also ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet — Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi and Women and Child Development Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar — are lobbying to secure the ticket for their children, Priyanka and Mrinal, respectively.

Satish Jarkiholi is from the powerful Jarkiholi family of sugar barons. Apart from Satish, two of his brothers Ramesh and Balachandra are BJP MLAs, while another — Lakhan Jarkiholi — is a Congress MLC. Satish is considered a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and followed him into the JD(S) from the Congress over 15 years ago.

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Express View | The battle for Belagavi

Hebbalkar, on the other hand, is associated with Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s camp. Her younger brother Channaraj Hattiholi was elected to the Legislative Council in 2021. By fielding a member of her family, Shivakumar is looking to extend his influence in the politically significant Belagavi district, which has two Lok Sabha seats, Belagavi and Chikkodi, and, crucially, 18 Assembly segments, the highest outside Bengaluru Urban district.

Both senior Congress leaders are eyeing the Belagavi seat for their respective children, because both consider the Lok Sabha constituency their stronghold.

While this battle for supremacy has mostly continued behind the screens, Satish Jarkiholi recently said that he did not have any differences with Lakshmi Hebbalkar. “Sometimes, our calculations do not work and we have to work together… During the MLC elections, we made sure that her brother won the polls even when my brother Lakhan contested,” he said, referring to the 2021 MLC polls, in which Hattiholi was elected. Lakhan too, later became an MLC, in 2022.

The names of three possible candidates from each seat for the Lok Sabha polls are expected to be sent to the party leadership in the coming days. For Belagavi district, the Congress plan is to give one ticket to an OBC candidate and another to a Lingayat. Hebbalkar is a Panchamasali Lingayat, while the Jarkiholis are Valmiki, a Scheduled Tribe, making both candidates suitable. “Discussions are still on, and there are several aspirants, including Priyanka and Mrinal. The party high command will take a final call,” sources added.