Gulbarga is an emotional electoral battle for Mallikarjun Kharge

'Hottest' seat in Karnataka

This emotional outburst is due to the fact that it is a high-stakes battle for Kharge in Gulbarga. It is the one of the most talked-about constituencies in Karnataka, and even nationwide.

Kharge was desperately trying to strike an emotional chord among the voters in this constituency. For him, it seemed like a last-ditch effort to wrest back control of the constituency, which the Congress lost in the 2019 general election.

Desperation was visible on Kharge’s face as he made this appeal in a choked voice. The citizens of Afzalpur too fell silent for a few seconds as the leader tried to regain his composure.

Toughest challenge

For more than half a century, Kharge featured on the Congress’ candidate lists for assembly or parliamentary elections in Karnataka. This time, he has decided to stay off the ballot.

Despite immense pressure from party leaders and workers in Karnataka, Kharge decided against contesting from Gulbarga constituency this time since he is busy with tasks at the national level – one of them being helming the Opposition INDIA alliance’s fight against the BJP.

A veteran of many poll battles, Kharge is now facing his toughest challenge since he became the Congress president in October 2022. After bringing the party back to power in Karnataka in 2023, he is expected to prove that Congress is still strong in his homeland Karnataka and in his native Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency.

The 81-year-old is leading the grand old party's campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, fighting against the so-called ‘formidable’ BJP. The electoral battle in Gulbarga increasingly resembles a high-profile proxy battle between national leaders Narendra Modi and Kharge.

Key battleground

The Congress candidate in Gulbarga LS constituency is Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani. Now, it seems as if Doddamani is fighting his father-in-law’s battle with Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Kharge in 2019.

It is significant that Kharge suffered a massive defeat in his home turf at that time. His opponent was none other his loyal follower-turned rival Umesh Jadhav, who won that election by a margin of 95,452 votes. In fact, it was Kharge’s first electoral defeat in the 47 years of his political journey since 1972.

This is precisely why the Gulbarga seat in Karnataka has become a pivotal battleground for both Kharge and Congress. However, since Kharge is viewed as having played a key role in getting special status for the Kalyana Karnataka region (Hyderabad Karnataka) region under Article 371(J) of the Constitution, he holds the major trump card. And Doddamani is effectively employing this point in his campaigns in Gulbarga.

‘Unvanquished leader’

Kharge has served as an MLA for nine terms from the Gurmitakal seat in Gulbarga (now Kalaburagi) district. He represented Gulbarga twice in the Lok Sabha (2009 and 2014) before losing in 2019, his first ever electoral defeat.

The Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency comprises eight assembly segments – Afjalpur, Jewargi, Gurmitkal, Chittapura, Sedam, Gulbarga Rural, Gulbarga South, and Gulbarga North. Except for Gurmitkal (Naganagauda Kundakur of JDS) and Gulbarga Rural (Basavaraja Mattimadu of BJP), all other MLAs are from the Congress.

It's essentially a Congress bastion. The party strengthened its grip on this constituency from the first general election in 1952 to 1996 and again regained hold of this constituency in 1999 and continued to dominate it till 2019.

Seeking retribution

BJP, meanwhile, is trying to recover from the blow it suffered in the Assembly elections last year. It is significant that Prime Minister Modi kickstarted his poll campaign in Karnataka from Gulbarga, emphasising the importance of the north Karnataka seat.

Though Kharge is not contesting, he is leaving no stone unturned to claim back this SC reserved constituency which he lost. For, he says, the “entire nation was united to defeat him in 2019. Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah and several others had camped in Gulbarga to defeat him”.

“I was confident that people of Gulbarga would not respond to Modi and Shah. Unfortunately, I faced defeat in the polls. I will assume that there is no place for me in your heart, if the Congress party loses again," he told the electorate in a choked voice.

Article 371(J) trump card

Sources close to Kharge told The Federal that the Congress president is closely monitoring the developments and getting updates from Doddamani, while his son Priyank Khagre and loyalist Dr Sharanaprakash Patil are sweating it out in the scorching summer heat to ensure victory.

A senior Congress leader said that the Congress has systematically planned Doddamani’s election campaign, while the party has claimed credit for implementing five guarantees and getting Article 371-J for Kalyana Karnataka region.

Priyank and Sharanprakash Patil have been meeting various caste groups and working classes separately to get the support of every section of the society in favour of Doddamani.

Equally determined BJP

But, the BJP is equally determined to retain Gulbarga seat, as Umesh Jadhav, once proved that he is a ‘giant-killer’ by defeating an ‘undefeatable’. The BJP is brandishing the Hindutva card, dubbing its adversary as ‘pro-Muslim’ and also claiming the launch of new trains, including Vande Bharat Express from Gulbarga, as its achievements.

Gulbarga constituency has 20,98,202 voters. The electorate is made up of the Kolis (Kabbaligas), one of the major communities that can influence the poll result and Lingayats, the largest community with around 5-lakh voters. The BJP is heavily banking on the latter.

The Kurubas is the second largest community with around 3 lakh voters and they are likely to vote for the Congress because of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Muslims and Koli communities are the third largest with around 2.5-lakh voters each and the Congress is hoping to get a lion share here as well.

Kolis seem to be upset with BJP because the party had promised to include the community in the ST list. In the 2019 election, the BJP had lured Baburao Chinchansur, a prominent Koli leader from the Congress, who played a crucial role in channelising his community votes in favour of BJP and defeated Kharge.

Chinchansur and Guttedar factor

After BJP failed in fulfilling its promise, Chinchansur is now back in the Congress fold. Former minister Malikayya Guttedar, who had also quit Congress and joined the BJP to play a role in defeating Kharge is also back in the Congress now. Chinchansur and Guttedar’s homecoming can help the Congress to get a significant lead in the Afzalpur Assembly segment, where Jadhav grabbed over 35,000 more votes than Kharge in the last election.

Congress also claimed that SC (Right) electorates will support their leader Doddamani. But, BJP functionaries believed otherwise since Umesh Jadhav belongs to the Lambani community and they will vote for him.

On the other hand, Congress leaders felt that with prominent leaders like Revu Naik Belamagi and Subhash Rathod in its fold the party hopes to grab a sizable chunk of Lambani votes too.

Advani rejected Article 371(J)

The Congress is projecting itself as the champion of the region’s development. The rejection of special status to Kalyana Karnataka under Article 371 (J) by the then deputy prime minister L K Advani during the BJP-led NDA regime in 1999 continues to come back to haunt the BJP. Finally, it was conceded in 2012 under UPA, which is regarded as a feather in Kharge’s cap.

Whether Kharge’s contribution to Kalyana Karnataka region, especially Article 371(J) will turn out to be advantageous for Doddamani or people will vote for Modi regardless of caste configurations remains the moot question.