Gulbarga Lok Sabha election: Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna faces sitting BJP MP Umesh Jadhav

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gulbarga, one of the 28 parliamentary constituencies in Karnataka, is a stronghold of the Congress and is the home turf of its president Mallikarjun Kharge. A voter turnout of 57.20% was recorded.

A total 41.59% turnout was reported at 1 pm for the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka in 14 constituencies. The polling began at 7 am today and will end at 6 pm.

Kharge, who has won 11 elections, including nine Assembly and two Lok Sabha polls, saw a massive defeat in the 2019 general elections from Gulbarga by his follower-turned-rival Umesh Jadhav, who moved to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the 2024 elections, Kharge is campaigning for his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani. For the Congress president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, it is a high-stakes battle as Doddamani is competing with Jadhav, who is eyeing a second consecutive term.

The Gulbarga seat comprises eight Assembly segments, six of which are currently held by the grand old party, while the BJP and its NDA ally JD(S) have one seat each.

While the Congress is aiming to wrest this seat from the BJP, banking on the development initiatives by Kharge and the state government’s guarantee schemes, the saffron party is eyeing a second consecutive term from here, heavily promoting the “Modi ki guarantee”.

In this region, Lingayats are the largest community having around five lakh voters, while Kurubas is the second largest community with around three lakh voters. Muslims and Koli/Kabbaliga have around 2.5 lakh voters each in this constituency.

Voting date

Polling for the 2024 general elections in Karnataka is being held in two phases. While 14 constituencies went for polls in the second phase on April 26, voting on the remaining 14 seats, including Gulbarga, will be conducted in the third phase on May 7. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.

During the 2019 polls, Gulbarga saw a total voter turnout of 61.18%.

List of candidates

A total of 14 candidates are in the fray for the Gulbarga seat in the 2024 elections. However, the major contest is between the BJP and Congress candidates. Here’s a look at some of the prominent names on the list.

2019 result

BJP’s Umesh Jadhav defeated Congress heavyweight and two-time MP Mallikarjun Kharge by more than 95,000 votes in the 2019 elections.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow