The BJP’s decision to pick Marathi-speaking corporators as mayor and deputy mayor of the Belagavi city civic body has received severe backlash from pro-Kannada activist and Kannadigas in the district.
In an apparent bid to woo Marathi-speaking voters in the in the border district for the April-May Karnataka Assembly polls, BJP’s high command picked Shobha Mayappa Somanache and Reshma Patil as mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, of Belagavi City Corporation (BCC).
The move comes in the backdrop of border-related tensions between Karnataka and Maharashtra, with Belagavi as its epicentre.
Delayed election
Nearly one-and-a-half years after corporators of the BCC were elected, the contest for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor was held on Monday, 6 February. The BJP had registered an emphatic win in the civic body polls held in September 2021 — the first electoral test for Basavaraj Bommai after being appointed chief minister.
BJP corporator of Ward 57, Shobha Mayappa Somanache, was elected unopposed as the mayor of the BCC. BJP corporator of Ward 33, Reshma Patil, was elected as the deputy mayor.
The mayor’s post was reserved for “Women from General category” and the deputy mayor’s for “Women from ‘Other Backward Classes–B category”.
Of the total 55 wards, BJP won in 35 wards, Congress in 10 wards, independents in eight wards, the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) in four wards and the AIMIM in one. In the history of the Belagavi City Corporation polls, the BJP had gained a clear majority for the first time in the 2021 elections.
Among the 35 BJP corporators, 15 are women, where nine are Kannadigas.
BJP’s Shobha Mayappa Somanache was the only corporator who filed nomination for the mayor’s post as no other party had a clear majority to test their luck. Shobha was elected unopposed as the BCC mayor.
In the elections held for the deputy mayor’s post, BJP’s Reshma Patil and MES’s Vaishali Bhatkhande had filed nominations. Reshma was elected with 42 votes, with Bhatkhande getting just four votes.
ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಮಹಾನಗರ ಪಾಲಿಕೆಯ ನೂತನ ಮೇಯರ್ ಆಗಿ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿರುವ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ಶೋಭಾ ಸೊಮನ್ನಾಚೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಉಪಮೇಯರ್ ಆಗಿ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಾಗಿರುವ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ರೇಷ್ಮಾ ಪಾಟೀಲ್ ರವರಿಗೆ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಅಭಿನಂದನೆಗಳು. ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಮಹಾನಗರ ಪಾಲಿಕೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಸಮಗ್ರ ಗಡಿನಾಡ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಸದಾ ಬದ್ಧವಾಗಿದೆ. @BJP4Karnataka pic.twitter.com/oeS7YadiZr
— Basavaraj S Bommai (@BSBommai) February 6, 2023
The Congress boycotted the mayor and deputy mayor elections as the party did not have the numbers to put up any kind of meaningful fight.
Explained: What the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row is all about
BJP faces Kannadiga ire
Amidst the boiling Karnataka-Maharashtra inter-state border dispute, members of the various Kannada organisations and netizens have severely criticised the ruling BJP government for prioritising Marathi-speaking corporators over Kannada-speaking corporators for both the mayor and deputy mayor posts in Belagavi.
Kannada activist Ashok Chandaragi told South First: “The BJP had a clear majority in the house. The party should have preferred a Kannada-speaking corporator for at least one post instead of preferring Maratha corporators for both the major posts of the city corporation.”
“Belagavi is a part of Karnataka. Kannadigas are supreme in the state. It is a well-calculated political strategy by the BJP to woo the Maratha votes ahead of the Assembly polls. We oppose the decision of the BJP preferring Marathas over Kannadigas in this election,” Chandaragi hit out at BJP.
BJP’s poll plan
“Of the 15 women corporators of the BJP, nine are Kannada-speaking corporators. Among them, few were eligible for the mayor’s post and remaining for the deputy mayor’s post. The Kannada-speaking women corporators had put all their efforts but did not prevail against the political engineering of the local BJP MLAs,” BJP sources told South First.
A section of Kannada activists also highlighted the fact that the newly elected mayor and deputy mayor do not know how to read and write Kannada. “Both mayor and deputy mayor took oath in Kannada language but it was written in Marathi,” claimed sources.
“The BJP legislators — Belagavi South MLA Abhay Patil and North MLA Anil Beneke — are behind electing Maratha corporators Shobha and Reshma for mayor and deputy mayor posts, respectively. This is a strategy by both the party legislators to consolidate the Maratha vote base in their respective Assembly seats,” alleged Chandaragi.
Even netizens expressed anguish over the BJP ignoring Kannada-speaking corporators and giving priority to the Maratha corporators in the elections to the top two jobs of the city corporation.
What the hell is this? @BJP4Karnataka ಇನ್ನ ನಮ್ಮ್ ಕಡೆ ಇಂದ vote ಮರ್ತ್ಕೊಳಿ ನೀವು. @CMofKarnataka pic.twitter.com/6e5tDGkKex
— ಮಲ್ನಾಡ್ ಕೂಸ್ (@malnadkoos) February 6, 2023
ಕೆಲ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬೆಳಗಾವಿ ಪಾಲಿಕೆಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರೇ ಮೇಯರ್ ಆಗಬೇಕೆಂದು @karave_KRV ನಡೆಸಿದ್ದ ಹೋರಾಟದಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡ ನುಡಿಯವರ ಮತ ಒಂದಾಗಿ, ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರೇ ಮೇಯರ್ ಆಗುವಂತೆ ಆಗಿತ್ತು.
ದೆಹಲಿಯ ಪಕ್ಷಗಳ ಅಧಿಕಾರದ ಹಪಹಪಿಯಿಂದ ಬೆಳಗಾವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರ ಮತ ಒಡೆದು ಹೋಗುವಂತಾಗಿದೆ.
— ಅರುಣ್ ಜಾವಗಲ್ | Arun Javgal (@ajavgal) February 7, 2023
Related: Amit Shah and the Karnataka-Maharashtra border row
BJP defends itself
Though many Kannada organisations and Opposition parties criticised the BJP for electing Marathi-speaking corporators for the mayor and deputy mayor posts, leaders of the saffron party defended its decision and dismissed all the allegations.
Responding to the criticism, BJP MLA Abhay Patil told reporters: “The mayor and deputy mayor elections were held on the party symbols, not on language lines. Keeping development as the main mantra, we have elected mayor and deputy mayor. BCC is under the control of the BJP.”
“We will prove that our choice is correct in the coming days. We will work towards meeting the people’s demands. BJP will always follow Nationalism and Hindutva. Henceforth, the mayor and deputy mayor will not be elected based on Kannada and Marathi speaking corporators,” Patil said.
Stating that it was a right move by the party, BJP spokesperson MN Zirali, told South First: “BJP has ended the dominance of MES in Belagavi. At present there are only four corporators from MES and no one represents any Assembly segment. There is no question of the party preferring Marathi-speaking corporators to woo the community’s voters.”
“The elections for the mayor and deputy mayor will happen every year. In the next elections, the party will give priority to others. The party stands by its decision and does not discriminate on the lines of caste, religion and language,” added Zirali, who is also a Supreme court advocate and part of Karnataka legal team.
However, the Kannada speaking corporators have not made any comment on the matter.
