BIDAR: Can Minister for Municipal Administration Eshwar Khandre, who is contesting from Bhalki constituency on a Congress ticket, make it a hat-trick this time by breaking the jinx?
A glance at the results of Bhalki Assembly constituency since 1962 indicates that no candidate has won thrice so far. What is surprising is that even though the constituency has become a bastion of the Khandre family since 1962 when veteran leader Bheemanna Khandre won the seat contesting on a Congress ticket, no single individual who contested here has been able to make it a hat-trick so far. Candidates who had won the seat two consecutive times have either abstained from contesting a third time or were defeated by the rival candidate.
Bheemanna Khandre won the seat first on the Praja Socialist Party ticket in 1962 and later on the Congress symbol in 1967. In the 1972 election, senior Khandre lost to Subash Ashture who contested on the Congress symbol. Although Bheemanna, who returned to the Indira Congress after the downfall of Devaraj Urs, won the seat in 1978 and retained the seat against the strong anti-Congress wave in 1983, he could not make it a hat-trick in 1985.
