Shankaranand faces challenge from Lok Shakti
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 14 February 1998 14:48 ISTMore 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.
