The Jarkiholi brothers have preferred to stay away from campaigning for the bypoll to Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency after the big brother of the clan got embroiled in sex scandal.
The clout of the five Jarkiholi brothers - Ramesh, Satish, Balchandra, Bhimsi and Lakhan - is hard to ignore in Belagavi politics.
Gokak and Arabhai Assembly constituencies, represented by BJP MLAs Ramesh and Balachandra, fall under Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency. But the legislators have not plunged into campaigning for party candidate Mangala Angadi.
Ramesh Jarkiholi has not stepped out of his Gokak residence nor held any poll meetings after the CD, in which he purportedly featured along with a woman, was released.
Balchandra too is busy trying to bail his brother out of the case. He had held several meetings before the announcement of bypoll date at his constituency. But has remained quiet after the poll schedule was out. Both the leaders have not even sent any ‘message’ to their supporters.
This despite the request by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to the Jarkiholi brothers to involve themselves in the campaigning.
On the other hand, Lakhan Jarkiholi, who had unsuccessfully contested against his brother Ramesh on Congress ticket in 2018, is not seeking votes in favour of his brother and Congress candidate Satish Jarkiholi. In fact, Satish stood firmly behind Lakhan when the latter contested the 2018 polls.
Lakhan had openly rebelled against the party president D K Shivakumar, believing that the Kanakapura strongman and bete noire of Ramesh, behind the release of sleaze CD. He had demanded the Congress high command to sack Shivakumar.
A Congress leader from Gokak, on the condition of anonymity, told DH, “Congress workers in Gokak are in confusion. They are in no mood to seek votes for Satish in the constituency. Many leaders and workers have openly said that they would campaign for party workers if Shivakumar resigns as KPCC president.”
With only few days left for the polling, both the BJP and the Congress want Jarkiholi brothers in their camps to campaign and sway votes in favour of their candidates in Gokak and Arabhavi segments.