Congress Minister‘s panel inducts BJP MLA to fight cooperative bank elections in Belagavi

In an interesting development, a panel led by Minister and Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi has decided to field BJP MLA Vithal Halgekar in the Belagavi District Central Cooperative Bank elections from Khanapur.

This decision comes a day after Congress MLC Channaraj Hattiholi announced that he is not contesting the polls.

Mr. Jarkiholi has repeatedly clarified that the elections are not being fought on party affiliations.

He told reporters in Belagavi on Tuesday that the sole purpose of forming a panel is to choose leaders who will protect the interests of farmers and to keep away anti-farmer forces.

Apparently, Satish Jarkiholi’s panel is pitted against the panel including BJP MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi and the former BJP MP Anna Saheb Jolle.

The third player in the arena is the panel of the former MP and BJP leader Ramesh Katti.

The choice of Mr. Halgekar by the Satish Jarkiholi panel is interesting, though not surprising.

A recent entrant to the BJP, Mr. Halgekar is a known pro-Marathi activist. He has spent a major portion of his public life in the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi. He also founded and ran an education society and a cooperative sugar factory in Khanapur.

He is known to be closer to the Jarkiholi brothers, than other leaders in the district. Satish Jarkiholi is also adjusting his candidates according to the caste matrix, by choosing Mr. Halgekar, a Maratha, over Mr. Hattiholi, a Lingayat, his followers say.

His panel includes some veteran Lingayat co-operators Raju Ankalagi, they point out. The century-old cooperative bank is one of the oldest coperative institutions in North Karnataka.

Elections to the board of directors of the bank, the prime lender to farmers in the district, are considered prestigious. Several leaders from the district like the Katti brothers, the Savadi family, the Jarkiholi family and the Ankalagi brothers have had their roots in the bank elections.

Chairman of a committee to select the candidate from Khanapur Yashwant Birje said on Friday that Mr. Halgekar has been chosen unanimously.

A meeting was held at Shantiniketan School on Thursday. It considered the names of Mr Hattiholi, Mr. Halgekar and social worker Raju Siddhani.

After some rounds of discussion, it was announced that Mr. Hattiholi had withdrawn from the contest. Later, Mr. Halgekar ‘s name was announced.

A total of 55 primary agriculture cooperative societies are eligible to vote in the elections. However, the support of at least 28 societies is necessary for a majority. Mr. Halgekar has claimed the support of 35 such societies.