Kalaburagi: The Chincholi by-election is seeing as fierce a contest as the just concluded poll in Kalaburagi during the recent Lok Sabha elections, where Congress veteran, Mallikarjun Kharge was up against Dr Umesh Jadhav, who had vowed to defeat him after quitting the Congress to join the BJP.
Although the actors in the present contest are Mr Avinash Jadhav of the BJP and Subash Rathod of the Congress, the real battle remains between Mr Kharge and Dr Umesh Jadhav, who is strongly backing his son. Although there are 12 candidates in the fray, including one from the BSP, it's a straight fight between Mr Subash Rathod and Mr Avinash Jadhav. While Mr Rathod is a former vice-president of the Kalaburagi ZP and an LLM graduate, Mr Avinash is doing his final year MD in general surgery at the local KBN Medical College.
Seeing Dr Umesh Jadhav's decision to leave the Congress and take him on in Kalaburagi, a constituency he has represented for years, as a "betrayal" Mr Kharge is out to make sure that his son, Avinash , bites the dust in Chincholi. The bypoll is important for Dr Umesh Jadhav too as it will decide his son's political future.
For the coalition government in the state, Chincholi could be crucial as well, as if the result goes in favour of the BJP, it will increase its tally in the Assembly from 104 to 105, and possibly lead to defection of more Congress and JD(S) legislators to its fold. However, if the result goes in favour of the Congress, it could put a brake on more defections and spell stability in the coalition government.
While the Congress campaign has focused largely on the "backstabbing" by Dr Jadhav, the BJP is focusing on the coalition government's "neglect" of the constituency and the "interference" by minister Priyank Kharge, which drove Dr Jadhav to leave the party. Although the Congress has won from the constituency both in the 2013 and 2018 assembly polls, the caste equation appears to favour the BJP this time with Mr Avinash Jadhav banking on the Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Lambani communities, which are both in substantial number in Chincholi, to support him. Of the 1,90, 976 voters in the constituency, Veerashaiva- Lingayats account for 45,000 and the Lambanis, 35,000. The Congress, on the other hand, is depending mainly on the Dalits and Muslims, who are 35,000 and 20,000 strong respectively and on the Lambanis too.
Mr Avinash also enjoys some goodwill in Chincholi due to the development work carried out by hisfather, Dr Umesh Jadhav. Moreover, his grandfather, the late Gopalrao's reputation as a freedom fighter, could stand him in good stead as well.
Mr Rathod, for his part, has been in touch with the Lambani community in the constituency as the state president of the Banjara Samaj. While BJP leaders are trying to portray him as an outsider, he points out that he has fought many battles on behalf of the Lambanis in the constituency like during the controversy over the sale of their babies.
