Political Heat Rises in Shiggaon as By-Poll Nears, BJP Faces Tough Contest
SHIGGAON: The political atmosphere in Shiggaon is intensifying as the constituency gears up for by-election following the resignation of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The Shiggaon assembly seat, held for BJP by Bommai since 2008, fell vacant after his victory in the Haveri Parliament seat during the 2024 general elections.
A high-level BJP organizational meeting was held in Shiggaon and attended by key party leaders including BJP Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, MLAs Mahesh Tenginakai, Aravind Bellad, party general secretary P Rajeev, and former Minister BC Patil.
The meeting discussed the election and also collected the names of the aspirants. According to sources the list of aspirants included over 60 names.
Among the top names are Bharat Bommai, son of Basavaraj Bommai, whose candidacy has been proposed by his supporters. Though Bommai has not personally applied, his supporters did so on his behalf.
Srikant Dundi Gowdar, Shobha Nissimagowdar, and Shashidhar Yaligar are the other prominent contenders.
The seat has become a focal point for intense lobbying within the BJP ranks.
Shiggaon is set to witness a severe contest, with both BJP and Congress eager to claim the seat. For BJP, retaining Bommai’s home constituency is seen as a matter of prestige, while Congress is determined to stage a strong challenge, boosted by its recent electoral performance.
In the 2024 Parliament elections, Congress secured over 8,000 more votes than BJP in the Shiggaon assembly segment (part of Dharwad Parliament constituency), a fact that has raised the party’s confidence ahead of the by-election.