Bagalkot: AHINDA focus, choice of accessible candidate tilted scales in favour of Cong.

The Congress, which has retained the Bagalkot Assembly seat that fell vacant following the death of H.Y. Meti, is said to have benefited from various reasons, including sympathy towards the deceased MLA’s son Umesh Meti, a united campaign by the Congress that focused on the AHINDA voters, and monitoring of the campaign process by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi.

The BJP’s loss is attributed to the perceived personality of the nominee Viranna Charantimath as a leader who had distanced himself from the common man and other party leaders and internal differences between some local leaders.