Satish Jarkiholi, Siddaramaiah's secret weapon

Belagavi: In a clever move to safeguard his prospects in the critical second constituency of Badami. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reached out to Satish Jarkiholi, a prominent ST leader whom he had previously sidelined, to counter the powerful Nayaka leader B. Sriramulu. Jarkiholi, whose ties with Sidddarmaiah had gone through a rough patch which saw the CM drop the four-time MLA from the cabinet two years ago, is now his go -to man to win Badami as he turns his focus to winning Chamundeswari, which state intelligence has already warned will be a tough call. Jarkiholi's popularity among backward communities in the Bagalkote region has clearly led to the CM mending fences with him. In recent weeks he tried to broker a peace between Satish Jarkiholi and his estranged brother Ramesh, and has appealed to Satish Jarkiholi to camp in Badami and campaign for him.  

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reached out to Satish Jarkiholi, a prominent ST leader he had previously sidelined, to counter the Nayaka leader B. Sriramulu in the critical second constituency of Badami. Jarkiholi, whose ties with Sidddarmaiah had gone through a rough patch which saw the CM drop the four-time MLA from the cabinet two years ago, is now his go -to man to win Badami as he turns his focus to winning Chamundeswari where state intelligence has already warned will be a tough call.  

Jarkiholi's popularity among backward communities in the Bagalkote Region has clearly led to the CM mending fences with him. In recent weeks he tried to broker a peace between Satish Jarkiholi and his brother Ramesh, and has appealed to Jarkiholi to camp in Badami and campaign for him.  "The CM spoke to me from Mysuru about the campaign to be taken up in Badami. Heasked me to work in Badami actively to ensure the party's victory. I am supposed to be in Badami now but stayed back in Belagavi today to file my nomination papers,'' he said.

Satish said, he would work for the CM's victory in Chamundeshwari constituency as well. “Siddaramaiah has been my political mentor and close friend. I will work for his victory in both constituencies,'' he added.

Jarkiholi emerged as a popular leader of the backward classes in north-Karnataka region due to the anti-superstition campaigns which he organises at regular intervals. The events he holds in graveyards and crematoria on Babasaheb Ambedkar's death anniversary at various places have been hugely successful.

Backward classes including Kurubas constitute more than 70,000 votes in Badami and will play a key role in the election. The main reason for CM's attempts to get closer to Jarkiholi is the latter's ability to divert a major chunk of backward class votes in favour of the Congress. 

Earlier, the Congress had exerted pressure on Jarkiholi not to quit the Congress when he was upset over his removal from the state cabinet. To stop him from switching sides, the high command named him AICC secretary and allotted important party activities to him. The Siddaramaiah- Jarkiholi rivalry had led to them publicly opposing each other. A few months ago, Satish had told his associates that he was thinking of switching parties and joining the JD(S).