Shiggaon constituency, which falls under Haveri district of Karnataka State, is witnessing Sashidhar Channabasappa Yaligar from the Janata Dal (Secular) contest against Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan from the Indian National Congress (INC) and Basavaraj Bommai from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Shiggaon constituency is seen as the gateway to the northern districts of Karnataka and is a BJP stronghold. In 2018, Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP won the seat by defeating Sayed Azeempeer Khadri of the Congress with a margin of 9265 votes.
The mighty Congress leader S Nijalingappa after being elected unopposed from Shiggaon in 1967, went on to become unified Karnataka’s first chief minister. Before 1999, the constituency was a Congress bastion.
Bommai, who deserted the Janata Dal (United) and joined the BJP, turned Shiggaon into a saffron party bastion. Bommai, son of the late Karnataka chief minister SR Bommai of the Janata party, had served as a minister under three BJP chief ministers: BS Yediyurappa, Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar. He handled important portfolios, including the Home ministry, Co-Operation, Major & Medium Irrigation, and Water Resources.
There are about 75,000 Veerashaiva Lingayats in Shiggaon, with the sub-sect of Bommai, making up for about 15,000 voters. Sindhura Rajasekar, an independent candidate, won the seat in 2004, while Khadri, who won in 1999 on a Janata Dal (S) ticket, contested every election thereafter on a Congress ticket, but lost to Bommai each time. However, Khadri managed to reduce the margin of victory in all the three subsequent polls that the current CM won on the BJP ticket. The constituency boasts of about 60,000 Muslims.
Out of 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the winning party must have at least 113 seats from the government in Karnataka.
Karnataka’s 224-member Legislative Assembly polls are currently underway; the results of the crucial elections will be announced on May 13.