Congress may find going tough in Kalaburagi

KALABURAGI: The ruling Congress party is waging a tough battle to retain the crucial Kalaburagi-Yadgir seat in elections to the Legislative Council.

Though the Congress, which has fielded its sitting member Allam Prabhu Patil, has an upper hand in the local bodies in both these districts, what has made the going tough for that party is the fielding of an industrialist B G Patil as its candidate by the BJP.

Besides the money power wielded by the BJP candidate, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections twice in the past, what has made him a formidable opponent this time is the solid backing he is getting from his party leaders. Unlike in the previous election, when the saffron party was a divided house, this time round the party leaders have sunk their differences and are putting up a solid fight.

In the previous election Mr Allam Prabhu had won against BJP candidate Subash Biradar.

Contrary to this the Congress candidate, who is a close confidant of former Chief Minister Dharam Singh, is facing dischordant voices in the party over his selection as candidate.

The District Congress Committee president Bhagan Gowda Sankur, who was in the race for the ticket, is upset over the denial of ticket to him.

Moreover a section of leaders close to the senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge are said to be annoyed over the upperhand gained by Mr Dharam Singh (besides Mr Allam Prabhu, Mr Dharam Singh has managed to get ticket for his eldest son Vijay Singh from the Bidar constituency) in the election. If they decide to settle their scores, the going would be very tough for Congress candidate.

But the major strengths of the Congress candidate has been his dynamism and his personal rapport with all sections of people, which are hardly noticeable in the BJP candidate. During the last five years as MLC and previously as ZP member and President, Mr Allam Prabhu Patil with his amiable nature, oratorical skills and active participation in all the meetings and functions that mattered, he has proved that he has all the qualities of emerging as a big leader.

Although there are nine candidates in the fray including the JDS candidate Devegowda Tellur, there appears to be a straight fight between the Congress and BJP candidates. The contest of Mr Tellur, who is known for his closeness to Deve Gowda family, is unlikely to pose much challenge to the candidates of Congress and BJP as the JDS has virtually lost all importance in district politics.