Sandesh Prabhudesai
14 Feb 1998
More than the dilemma of a hung Parliament, shadow of change of the
rule in Vidhansoudha of Bangalore seems to have spread over the Chikkodi
constituency, reserved for the scheduled caste, which is going for polls on 16 February.
Despite nine candidates including five independents, it is going to be
a straight fight between former union minister B Shankaranand (Congress) and Ramesh
Jigajinagi (Lok Shakti), a former state minister, who recently quit the Patel ministry to
join hands with Ramkrishna Hegde.
After biting dust last time following successive nine victories since
1967, Shankaranand is now making a determined effort to stage a comeback. The
non-performance of Janata Dal MP Ratnamala Savanur, who was rewarded a cabinet berth in
Delhi for "killing a tiger", is his strength today.
Though the JD leadership has skilfully denied ticket to its giant
killer Savanur, their new candidate, former MLA Shakuntala Chougule, is considered a
non-entity in the fray today. The real threat to Shankaranand is Jigajinagi, who enjoys
remarkable clout in the constituency.
"I am trying my level best to retain the margin Savanur had
achieved last time", says Jigajinagi. Shankaranand had miserably lost last elections
by polling hardly 33 per cent votes, while the "unknown lady" had swept the
polls by getting 53 per cent votes in favour of the JD.
While the whole nation is today blaming the Congress and Sitaram Kesri
for imposing polls within a span of 18 months, it has come as a blessing in disguise for
Shankaranand.
Flexing his muscles, he managed to get a ticket and has stepped into
poll arena in full strength. He denies the charge that he was defeated last time due to
negative factor. "Around 1.5 lakh Muslims in my constituency chose to vote for the
JD. They have realised their mistake now, so my victory is sure", he claims.
But people have still not forgotten his misdeeds of 29 years, on which
the Lok Shakti-BJP combine and the JD are capitalising. "It’s totally false.
Show me one district in the country, having four big sugar co-operatives. I brought it,
besides irrigation for agriculture and a factory", says Shankaranand.
But the constituency is today ruled by the Janata Dal, having six out
of eight Assembly segments with them while the Congress has only two. Having two state
ministers from Athani and Hukkeri, part of the Chikkodi constituency, is a negative factor
for the Congress.
"The JD has lost its credibility", feels Shankaranand. Shares
his view is Jigajinagi, the former JD minister, who claims that all frustrated cadres have
joined Lok Shakti. While confident of Patel government’s fall in Karnataka, he also
hopes to get a berth in the central cabinet, if BJP-led government comes to power.
S G Charantimath, the JD general secretary of Belgaum district, refutes
all these claims, stating that Lok Shakti is a big zero, having no base but only the wave.
"Jigajinagi is a good man, but being an MLA from Bijapur, people consider him an
outsider", he adds.
While recalling his work as a minister of the Belgaum district in the
past, Jigajinagi however claims that it is not the JD but Hegde base exists in the whole
district. His close aides also claim that some of the JD MLAs are secretly canvassing for
Lok Shakti.
Hegde, on the other hand, has appealed to the JD supporters to consider
it as a war between Pandavas and Kauravas, their own brothern, to protect Dharma.
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