S. A. Hemanth
Belagavi, March 2: Ugly fight has broken out in Belagavi between Congress leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar and BJP leader Ramesh Jharkiholi over the installation of Shivaji statue at Rajahansagad Fort in Belagavi Rural.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is scheduled to inaugurate the statue today, Thursday. However, Lakshmi Hebbalkar has said she will get the statue re-inaugurated by Siddaramaiah on March 5.
While Lakshmi claims that it was she who got funds for the development of the Rajahamsagad fort and also obtained permission to install the statue of Shivaji, Ramesh Jharkiholi, on the other hand, maintains that it was BJP which obtained clearance from the government.
The credit war is all about the 50,000 strong Maratha votes that are crucial in the Belagavi rural assembly constituency. Both BJP and Congress are eyeing for the major chunk of Maratha votes.
It is not only about Belagavi Rural and the assembly elections slated to be held in April/May.
Both the parties are looking at the 2.20 lakh Maratha votes in the entire Belagavi district that is crucial in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While Suresh Angadi managed to get both Lingayat as well as Maratha votes, his wife found it extremely difficult to get Maratha votes in the bye-elections. She won from a narrow margin of hardly by 3000 votes.
The BJP wants to get back the Maratha votes and consolidate its support base. It is in this background the BJP is determined to get Bommai inaugurate the Shivaji statue at Rajahamsagad fort.
The Congress too wants to break the Maratha vote bank of the BJP and hence it has made Siddaramaiah to inaugurate the statue.
In the egoistic fight for credit between Lakshmi Hebbalkar and Ramesh Jharkiholi, Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj will have the luxury of coming to focus twice in a week!!
EOM
