North Karnataka’s Bagalkot Lok Sabha seat is witnessing an intriguing contest in the making between lawyer-turned-politician and Youth Congress leader Samyuktha Patil and Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian PC Gaddigoudar, who is seeking re-election for the fifth time.
Samyuktha is among the fresh faces launched by the Congress in Karnataka to try to wrest the Bagalkot seat in favour of the party. The region has been a stronghold of the BJP since the Congress lost the seat in 2004.
Confident and razor-sharp focused, Samyuktha believes her campaign will give her BJP rival “a really good fight”.
“The environment is very positive and every day we are gaining an inch. The party workers are very charged and want the Congress to win from this seat,” said the young candidate as she took some time off from her campaign to speak to News18.
Samyuktha is the daughter of six-time MLA Shivanand Patil, who is also a minister in the present Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka. Hailing from a political background does not make her fight any easier, says the young leader. She believes that politicians are made by the people, and they must have accessibility amongst the party workers and voters to work or even win elections.
When asked how she sees contesting a parliamentary poll without the experience of having faced a state assembly or corporation election, the Congress candidate said that as a youth leader who has worked with the NSUI and Mahila Congress, she has gained sufficient “technical expertise”, which has been helping her manoeuvre through the parliamentary poll campaign. She speaks of how, from a young age, she has been taking an active part in her father Shivanand Patil’s election campaigns.
“I was completely hands-on when it came to strategy, planning, and execution for my father’s seat in the last assembly election. Obviously, that is different from contesting an election and that too as an MP candidate. I have contested and won elections in different positions including being a two-term director of the DCC bank, the first woman director in its 100-year history to be elected to that position,” she responded. “I also took part in Youth Congress elections where I had the highest number of voters enrolled and voters overall. In this election, I think I am on good solid ground.”
BJP’s choice, PC Gaddigoudar, is a seasoned and popular politician of the region and is considered instrumental in carving out the district of Bagalkot from Bijapur. Appointed as the chairman of the committee to study the reorganisation of districts by then Karnataka chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde, Gaddigoudar’s formidable political experience stands as a tough challenge to the new young leader, Samyuktha.
As she plans to take on her experienced opponent, Samyuktha says that she has built her campaign on two major issues: five guarantees of the Congress and the development of Bagalkot. She believes that the five guarantee schemes implemented by the ruling Congress in Karnataka — Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Shakti, Anna Bhagya, and Yuva Nidhi — have reached every last household and woman in the state, across all party lines and demographics.
“The incumbent MP has not done much when it comes to the development of the constituency. For example, there is a Bagalkot-Kudachi railway line that was supposed to be 147 km but has only reached 37 km in the past twenty years. It was already inaugurated before his term. The BJP has been in power for ten years and he was with the ruling government; despite that he was unable to get it done,” the candidate said.
She also wants to focus on developing tourism for the famous rock-cut temples of Badami, which was once the regal capital of the Badami-Chalukya kings in the 6th and 7th centuries.
“Much has to be done to develop Badami’s tourism industry. The heritage site is world-class and there is a need to tap its beauty. Development of this region has been subpar,” she points out.
Raising the issue that the Congress has been campaigning across the state, drought, Samyuktha alleges that Bagalkot has faced two consecutive drought years, yet MP Gaddigoudar did not raise his voice on the issue in Parliament.
“Bagalkot is an agrarian constituency, and he has not even raised his voice on seeking NDRF funds to be released for our farmers,” she said.
29-year-old Samyuktha promises to bring industries into the constituency to generate employment and also seek compensation for the farmers who lost their land and jobs related to the Upper Krishna Project.
“The youth resonate with me as they realise that I will be able to speak for their needs. I will help the farmers raise their voice in parliament on Kalasa Banduri, which is an important project for the Nargund and Badami part of the constituency,” she added.
Her candidature also faced a roadblock with Hungund MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar being upset that his wife Veena was denied the Bagalkot Lok Sabha ticket and refusing to back Samyuktha. While there were rumours of boycotting the campaign, it is learnt that the MLA has finally fallen in line with the Congress high command’s diktat and has agreed to canvass for Patil.
“I know I will come out victorious and I have the support of my party workers, local and state leaders. I am sure people will support me across the constituency and our party workers are looking forward to putting their best foot forward in winning this election,” she added with confidence.
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