Three days after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai unveiled a 36-ft-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj atop Rajhansgad fort, 20 km away from the Maratha-dominated Belagavi region of Karnataka, Congress MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar unveiled the same statue on Sunday. The incident once again brought to the fore the politics of one-upmanship over statue unveiling between Hebbalkar and BJP MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi in Belagavi. Hebbalkar, the local MLA, had recently announced that the statue would be unveiled on March 5. But Bommai inaugurated the statue on March 2, claiming, "I have never heard of this (unveiling of the statue for the second time). They can visit and offer respects. But this move shows their (the Congress's) lust for power." Hebbalkar, who had boycotted Bommai's event, went ahead with Sunday's inauguration, even though none of the top Congress leaders, like party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah and Congress state chief D K Shivakumar, whom she had invited for the event, turned up. Though trying to appear calm, Hebbalkar bristled when she said, "The statue was inaugurated (by Bommai) when it was only half-painted, in a programme that lasted just 12 minutes. It was an insult to Shivaji Maharaj," adding, “I have respect for CM Bommai. But they misled him to bring him over for the inauguration.” During his tenure as CM, BJP leader B S Yediyurappa had released Rs 14 crore for the development of Rajhansgad fort. Bommai announced a further Rs 5 crore at his March 2 inauguration. There are about 18 Assembly constituencies in Belagavi district, which also has an influence on Assembly seats in neighbouring districts. While four of the seats in the district are held by the Congress, the rest are with the BJP. The protracted tussle for control over the region between Hebbalkar and Jarkiholi has intensified this election season. Jarkiholi in January had alleged that Shivakumar and Hebbalkar were co-conspirators behind the leak of a sex CD in 2021, allegedly involving the BJP leader, which forced the latter to resign from his ministerial post. Recently, the BJP got Marathi-speaking candidates elected to posts for both mayor and deputy mayor in the Belagavi Municipal Corporation (BCC), in a move to woo the Marathi-speaking population in the region. According to the 2011 Census, there are about 18.71 per cent Marathi speakers in the region, and about 68.40 per cent Kannada speakers.
