Fights in Lok Sabha polls to look out for
Anti-incumbency and infighting the biggest worries as leaders up the ante.
The BJP's base in the iron orerich constituency has eroded with the unceremonious exit of the Reddy brothers because of their alleged involvement in the multi-crore mining scam. The BJP was so desperate to make its presence felt that it was forced to bring back B. Sriramulu, who had quit the party and had launched his own outfit.
Consequently, Bellary is set to witness one of the biggest battles in Karnataka with Congress fielding retired judge of Orissa High Court, N.Y. Hanumanthappa, as its candidate.
During the last election, Hanumanthappa had lost to Sriramulu's sister Shanta by a slender margin of 2,243 votes. Though the sympathy wave is in his favour, it will be wrong to assume that the ruling Congress has bettered the Bellary region after it assumed power in the state.
Sriramulu's campaign is omnipresent across the constituency and his past deeds appear irrelevant to the voters.
He belongs to the locally dominant Valmiki (ST) community. Of the 1.63 million voters in the constituency, they account for about 2,45,000 voters. The Congress is besieged with internal problems. Congress MLA Anil Lad was keen on contesting the polls, but he was denied a ticket.
- Vanu Dev/Bangalore.
BJP'S sitting MP and former cricketer Kirti Azad is hoping to retain his seat due to the Modi factor. He is up against a formidable rival in MAA Fatmi who has represented the constituency four times in the past.
This is the fourth consecutive election since 1999 when they have been pitted against each other. Kirti had won the polls in 1999 and 2009 while Fatmi had romped home in 2004. Fatmi is hoping to tie the contest this time around.
Fatmi has the majority of Muslims and Yadavs, the traditional supporters of Lalu Prasad's RJD, rallying behind him. The arrest of several terror suspects from Darbhanga in recent years has made the Muslims root for Fatmi. They apparently believe that Fatmi would oppose the arrest of "innocent" youth from the community by raising his voice in Parliament. Kirti, however, has the Modi factor in his favour.
Modi is quite popular among the youth of Mithilanchal. He is also likely to address a rally in Darbhanga on April 25 which might give a boost to Kirti's chances.
- Giridhar Jha/Patna.
