Shettar's name doing the rounds for multiple Lok Sabha seats

Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who returned to the BJP after nine months in the Congress, has emerged as the saffron party’s ticket probable for the Lok Sabha segments of Haveri, Belgaum and Dharwad. Except Dharwad, the BJP is searching for fresh faces to retain Haveri and Belgaum seats.

A senior party functionary told DH that the BJP was scouting for candidates in Belgaum, where Mangala Angadi, wife of former union minister late Suresh Angadi, won with a slender margin of over 5,000 votes in 2021 bypolls against the Congress strongman Satish Jarkiholi.

“The party is trying to replace Mangala with a fresh face as a result of this. Shettar’s name is doing the rounds as he also happens to be a relative of Angadi family and was the poll incharge of this seat when Mangala faced the bypoll. A theory that is doing the rounds in Belgaum BJP is that if Shettar replaces Mangala, it will not upset large pool of Angadi family supporters in the constituency and even Angadi family will not object much to Shettar’s arrival. Therefore, it will be a win-win situation for all parties - family, party and district unit,” the source said.

Interestingly, Shettar’s name is also doing the rounds for Dharwad and Haveri seats.

“Dharwad at present is represented by party heavyweight and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi Joshi, who has represented this seat since 2004. Shettar’s name seems to have cropped up in this seat due to his ongoing acrimonious relationship with Joshi. Shettar had openly accused Joshi of conspiring against him ahead of the Legislative Assembly polls during which he crossed over to the Congress,” another
functionary from Hubballi told DH.

The source further added that the possibility of
Joshi being made to contest from Uttara Kannada or Haveri seats cannot be ruled out as the party is looking to replace a credible face in Uttara Kannada, which is also a fortress of Sangh Parivar.

“In Haveri, both Joshi and Shettar’s names are doing rounds simultaneously, as pro-Shettar camp argues that Joshi could be sent to Haveri if Shettar does not agree to contest from Haveri or Belgaum. Similarly, Joshi camp is arguing that Shettar could possibly contest from Belgaum or Haveri seat and not from Dharwad as the seat has been on a winning streak since 2004. Moreover, Joshi is in a formidable position in New Delhi, where he has the capacity to retain his seat if anyone tries to snatch it from him,” the source explained and added that it would be too premature to guess who could be candidate from Dharwad at this juncture.

The source added that Shettar may finally settle for Belgaum seat, as he feels more safe to deal with Jarkiholi brothers than dealing with former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is an MLA from Shiggaon in Haveri.