Umesh Kattis and AB Patils battle it out in Belagavi Zilla Panchayat seat

Belagavi: The poll to the Ammangi zilla panchayat in Belagavi taluk is not merely important to the BJP and Congress but to also two influential families from the region, who have made it a matter of prestige to win from here.

While BJP candidate, Nikhil, is the son of former minister and seven-time MLA from Hukkeri, Umesh Katti, his Congress rival is Vinay, son of former minister, A B Patil.

The contest is expected to be close considering the massive support both families enjoy in the constituency. Mr Umesh Katti and Mr A B Patil are old political rivals and have been involved in elections to local sugar factories for decades.

Not only has Mr Patil's family lived in Aminbhavi, a village neighbouring Ammangi for a long time and is extremely popular among the people in the region, his father, Basagouda Patil, is credited with popularizing the cooperative movement in Belagavi region.

As for Mr Umesh Katti, he not only runs two sugar factories in Chikkodi taluk , but also controls many local bodies and organisations. Both families have drawn massive crowds at their campaign rallies over the past few weeks, making the outcome hard to tell.

Seeing how close the contest is, supporters of both candidates have even traced voters who migrate annually for a few months in search of work to urban areas and brought them back to vote on election day, hoping they will make the difference in the outcome.