Big fight in Belgaum

BELGAUM: A major commercial hub, Belgaum is where Kannada, Marathi and Konkani speaking come together. Linguistic fault lines have riven local politics and played a role, albeit marginal, in parliamentary elections too. There certainly is a correlation between Bhagwa Dhwaj of Marathi politics and the saffron party's emergence in Belgaum politics. Lingayats are the dominant caste in the region.
After two consecutive victories, sitting MP Suresh Angadi of the BJP is testing if he is lucky third time too.
What next
BJP's Suresh Angadi is facing a stiff challenge from Congress candidate Laxmi Hebbalkar. Laxmi has the backing of Jharkiholi brothers, who wield a big clout in the region. The stakes are high for both parties: Narendra Modi visited the city twice in the run-up to the polls, while Rahul Gandhi kickstarted his party campaign for Karnataka from here.
Electors: 15,27,700
Male : 7,79,404
Female: 7,48,296
Looking back
1951: Belgaum North and Belgaum South constituencies were in then Mumbai province and sent two Congressmen to the first Lok Sabha.
1957: In united Mysore state, Belgaum became a single constituency and Datar Balwantrao Nagesh Rao became second-time MP. He was lucky the third time too in 1962
1967: The Congress dominance continued with M Nabi Sab getting elected
1971 & 1977: Kotrashetti Appayappa Karaveerappa of the Congress had a smooth-sailing.
1980-1991: S B Sidnal of the Congress lorded it over the constituency with four consecutive victories.
1996: The Janata Dal, reinvigorated by Ramakrishna Hegde and H D Deve Gowda joining hands, managed to wrest the seat from Congress with its candidate, Koujalagi Shivanand Hemappa winning. The Congress came a poor third, with BJP candidate emerging coming second
1998: The constituency landed in BJP lap with bureaucrat-turned-farmer leader Babagouda Patil defeating Sidnal
1999: Son of Belgaum strongman and Janata parivar leading light V L Patil, Amarsinh Vasantrao Patil, won on a Cong ticket
2004 & 2009: Amarsinh Vasantrao Patil lost twice in succession to Suresh Angadi of BJP
Who won and when
1951: Belgaum North - Datar Balwant Nagesh (Cong); Belgaum South- Shankargouda Patil (Cong)
1957: Balavantrao Nageshrao Datar (Cong)
1962: Balavantrao Nageshrao Datar (Cong)
1967: NM Nabisab (Cong)
1971: Kotrashetti Appayappa Karaveerappa (Cong)
1977: Kotrashetti Appayappa Karaveerappa (Cong)
1980: Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa (Cong)
1984: Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa (Cong)
1989: Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa (Cong)
1991: Sidnal Shanmukhappa Basappa (Cong)
1996: Koujalagi Shivanand Hemappa (JD)
1998: Babagouda Rudragouda Patil (BJP)
1999: Amarsinh Vasantarao Patil (Cong)
2004: Suresh Angadi (BJP)
2009: Suresh Angadi (BJP)
Assembly segments
Belgaum North (Cong)
Belgaum South (MES)
Belgaum Rural (BJP)
Gokak (Cong)
Ramdurg (Cong)
Savadatti (BJP)
Bailhongal (KJP)
Arabhavi (BJP)
Previous poll results
Suresh Angadi (BJP) -384324-50.93%
Amarsinh Vasantrao Patil (Cong)- 265637-35.2%
AB Patil (JD-S) 68,594 --- 9.09
Others: 36006 --- 4.78%