If I was MP of Belgaum

Belgaum DC to file cases against Patil and Angadi

The Election Commission taking stock of the saffron flag controversy has asked the Belgaum DC to files cases against Sanjay Patil MLA and Suresh Angadi MP. Action has been sought under the provisions of both the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of People Act for violating the poll code and making inflammatory speeches that could cause division among communities

Members of the Janata Dal (Secular) Students Wing ransacked the chamber of BJP MLA Sanjay Patil at the Legislators' Home Bangalore on Wednesday in protest against hoisting of the saffron flag.

Kannada Development Authority Chairman Mukyamantri Chandru condemned an apology from the MP and MLA while various pro-Kannada organizations staged a demonstration in Bangalore, Belgaum and other parts of the state and condemned the BJP leaders’ attitude of surrendering to Marathi voters during the elections.

Source: Express Buzz, Mangalorean

Saffron flag controversy is gaining ground Aage Kua Piche Khayi

MP Suresh Angadi and MLA Sanjay Patil are now on the back foot as there are protests by the KRV. Angadi told The Hindu, and I quote “I will support it even if the KRV is ready to hoist a saffron flag, which has been and continues to be the symbol of our national pride since the times of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, The saffron flag symbolizes Hinduism and not the Kannada or Marathi linguistic community, as is being misunderstood by a few.”
The issue was deliberately raked up to project the BJP as “anti-Karnataka” during election time.The KRV ransacked the official chamber of Sanjay Patil, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, which is housed in Belgaum taluk panchayat office here on Tuesday.

On the other side another faction of the KRV attacked the office Suresh Angadi which is situated in the Cada office.

The KRV is demanding the withdrawal of the nomination of Angadi for the elections as they are supporting the hoisting of the saffron flag.

In another development on the same issue the District administration submitted its report to the chief election officer of the state on the roles played by the MP and MLA in the protest done by MES, however no notice of violation of code of conduct has been issued.

Its worst times for BJP now, “Aage Kua Piche Khayi”. If the Angadi supports the MES on the issue he can be in the race to get some Marathi votes, otherwise which is not very likely this time. People say, these politicians come when they want votes and this a just another example to it. The KRV is against Angadi’s support to MES saffron flag, so they are asking people not to vote for him. So where does the MP go “Aage Kua Piche Khayi”.

This time the Belgaum loksabha election could give some surprises, still the other candidate lists are not out so we just have to imagine but, for these years the Marathi-Kannada issue was never a issue of great importance during the Loksabha elections. Yes, for the assembly elections it is the only issue.

There has been no much disturbance after the delimitation of the constituencies. Belgaum Loksabha seat is made up of Arabhavi, Gokak, Belgaum Uttar, Belgaum Dakshin, Belgaum Rural, Bailhongal, Saundatti Yellamma and Ramdurg.

So be glued to the election fever the congress candidate names should be out in a day or two and other names also as the nomination process starts in the last week of March.

Source: The Hindu

HC notice to Mayor on postponement of polls

The Dharwad-based High Court’s Circuit Bench on Thursday issued notice to the Belgaum Mayor, Belgaum City Corporation Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner to appear in the court of Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar on Monday in connection with a writ petition challenging the decision of the Mayor to postpone the mayoral election.


Corporator Dhanraj Gauli had filed the petition challenging the decision of the Mayor and returning officer Prashanta Budavi to postpone the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor scheduled to be held here on March 13.

Source: The Hindu

Belgaum Mayor election postponed until 30 march

The election for the office of Mayor and Dy.Mayor of Belgaum, which was declared to be held on 13 March, now has been postponed until 30 March citing law and order problems.The city corporation office has to be shifted to the new premises before 16 March. As there is Holi, the authorities cited law and order problems and the election has been postponed.

1996 Belgaum parliamentary constituency voting was postponed by a month

The Belgaum parliamentary constituency, where polling had to be postponed by a month in 1996 due to a record number of independent candidates, 452 and a total of 463.

The huge number of Independents was part of a political strategy planned by the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, which has been fighting since 1956 to get the Marathi-speaking border area merged with Maharashtra, it aimed at attracting the attention of the whole nation to the controversy. Over 400 activists had entered the fray. All of them lost deposits, but polled around 25 per cent votes, upsetting political calculations as also the Election Commission, which had to print extra-long ballot papers to accommodate them.

For the 1996 general election, Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh crossed all earlier records with 480 candidates in the fray.
After this incident the Election commission increased the security deposit and also some norms for nomination.

Mark your polling booth in Belgaum

Belgaum to vote on Thursday 23rd April for Loksabha

  Polling for the 15^th Loksabha for Belgaum Constituency will

happen on 23rd April, 2009 (Thursday) as part of Phase 2.

 The counting will be done on May 16.

Important dates:

Issue of Notification - 28-Mar-2009
Last Date for filing Nominations- 04-Apr-2009

Scrutiny of Nominations- 06-Apr-2009

Last date for withdrawal of Candidature- 08-Apr-2009

Date of Poll- 23-Apr-2009

Counting of Votes on- 16-May-2009 (Saturday)

 

 

Rs.20 lakh seized: bye-elections special

In a dramatic incident APMC police intercepted a vehicle in Sadashivnagar area, seized Rs 20 lakh and arrested three persons in this regard.

The money seized by the police on Monday morning belonged to JD(S) and was meant for its both candidates contesting from Hukkeri and Arabhavi Assembly constituencies in the byelection, according to JD(S) State General Secretary Milind Dharmasen.


Source: Deccan Herald

Wake up: We need a Change this time

What has happened in Mumbai for the past 47 hours is perhaps history now, but I am ashamed with all those politicians who went there to the Trident, Nariman House and Taj.

There were our gallant army and police cops fighting for life inside and these politicians were there do what ? Show sympathy? The pay commissions recommendations are not adhered to for the defense forces but the salary of the MLAs MPs and governors are increased many folds in successive years. Why is this?
Someone now would come out do what was done in the Batla House case. Human Rights activists may come up and say why you shot them you should have caught them. I say all those should have been there in the Taj or Trident.
If they had guts they should worn the uniform and entered the buildings with the commandos. DOES ANY POLITICIAN HAVE THIS GUTS?

All these rotten politicians form all parties Congress, BJP and all others who were trying to face up on the occasion as elections are nearing.

WE NEED A CHANGE.
What have they given us and insecure environment to live in and if they cant, give us a secure environment they should at least prepare to fight these situations? See what happened in Mumbai, Disaster management is only on papers. Corporators, ministers, MPs and MLAs will after a few days make a trip to see a foreign country to access the disaster management in that country. All our money will be spent and what will happen after that another Operation Taj will have to be undertaken.

Elections are nearing in 2009 we will have the National elections and in that I would urge all to vote for someone who could do something for the society. Vote for a person not because he is from a particular party but for his guts that he might have.

You all may think why all this on this blog, all that happened in Mumbai. It happened there it could happen anywhere. We need to wake up at least now, Wake up folks before its too late. “JAAGORE”

Belgaum Cantonment Board Elections

Source: Tarun Bharat

Fierce contest likely in Belgaum North

Source: The Hindu
Congress has fielded Feroz Sait Khimjibhai
Ramesh Kudachi is JD(S) candidate
MES, which is facing the problem of rebel candidates, is trying to win back the seat

The electoral battle lines have become clear in Belgaum North constituency with the Congress naming Feroz Sait Khimjibhai as its candidate on Friday.
There is jubilation among the Muslim community members in the constituency as the Congress has conceded their demand. The Congress has considered the candidature of a Muslim leader for the first time from the constituency which was called Belgaum City before delimitation. However, this decision has cost the party dearly, as the two-time MLA Ramesh L. Kudachi quit the Congress and is in the fray as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate.

Muslims in general and the Minority Cell of the Belgaum District Congress Committee have been demanding the party ticket to a Muslim candidate. They argued that Muslims had been traditionally supporting the Congress but the party had never done “justice” to the community or its leaders.
The contest is likely to be fierce in the constituency as there are a large number of Muslims in the segment and the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) is trying to win back the seat which it had lost in 1999 and 2004. The MES has fielded the former mayor Vijay Pandurang More for the constituency.
Mr. Kudachi, who belongs to Kuruba community, which has a sizeable presence in the constituency, had defeated the MES candidates in the last two elections with the support of Kannada-speaking electorate and a large section of Muslim voters. He is, however, confident that his “vote bank” is intact.
Senior leader of the MES Deepak Dalvi has filed his nomination papers as a rebel to “teach a lesson” to the samithi’s leader Kiran Thakur. Problems in the MES have further compounded with Ramesh Paule, a follower of Mr. Dalvi, filing his nomination papers on Saturday.
Though none of the MES candidates in the previous elections enjoyed any sympathy of Kannada-speaking voters, Mr. More, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes, is popular among all sections of society. People have seen him as a social worker who is available to the common man round the clock.
The Bharatitya Janata Party’s bet with the former Chairman of Belgaum Urban Development Authority Shankargouda Patil, a Lingayat, is not being taken well within the party itself. The only criterion for his candidature is stated to be his close association with the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
Though the Shiv Sena has fielded the former corporator Prakash Shirolkar, who recently raised the banner of revolt against the MES, his presence in the fray is likely to affect the prospects of the MES. However, the MES is trying to convince rebels to withdraw from the fray to avoid a split in the Marathi votes.

MES Splits

The unhappy faction of the MES(Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti) has filed in papers of R Pawale as their candidate for the Belgaum North. The MES had officially declared Vijay More as its candidate from North. In my earlier post the report of attacking the Kiran Thakur by the same group was also published.

Election Photo ID Card Belgaum North Schedule

The Election Photo ID card program is being implemented for Belgaum North as of now. CLikc the link below to find out the place you have to go, to get your photo taken.
http://mahiuk.googlepages.com/epicnorth.htm

I dont have info about Belgaum south as yet, as I get it I will upload the same.
All those who dont have Voter ID cards kindly go and come as these programs are done once in three to four years.

Ye nahi Woh Sahi:Magar Kursi Chaiye

Source: The New Indian Express

TWO-TIME Congress MLA Ramesh Kudachi, whom the party denied a ticket to contest from Belgaum North segment, is likely to quit the party and is planning to contest from other party.

Kudachi,who arrived from Bangalore this morning told The New Indian Express, that he would take a final decision after consulting the party workers, in a day or two. He also told that Janata Dal (Secular), Bahujan Samaj Party and his former party Janata Dal (United) have contacted him and have assured him ticket from Belgaum North segment.

He said that he rejected the offer of Congress, which had asked him to contest from Belgaum South as only a 20 per cent area of his old segment was included in South segment after delimitation. 'I had asked the party to retain me in Belgaum North, as 80 per cent area of my old segment remains in the North constituency,'.

He, will now contest from other party. I want to ask all these candidates" Do they have any ethics in place? or is that its all for the people, not for themselves."

This is seen in all parties these days. You dont get a ticket from one party leave that join another get a ticket, next time they dont give you so you go back to the first party you left. Wow this is opportunism and nothing else. If you are so sure that you can win the election stand as an independent without any political party support and win. People will definitely vote for a person who is good.

Kya hoga is Desh ka.

Nomination process begins in Belgaum today

Source The Hindu
Last date for submitting papers is May 3
Counting of votes will take place on May 25

A notification announcing calendar of events for elections to the State Assembly from 18 segments in the district will be issued on Saturday. Polling will be held on May 22.
The Deputy Commissioner and Chief Electoral Officer for Belgaum district, M.E. Shivalingamurthy, said here on Friday that the nomination process would begin on April 26 at designated centres between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The last date for submitting nomination papers is May 3. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on May 5. The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers is May 7. Counting of votes will take place on May 25 at K.B. Kore Polytechnic for Nippani, Chikkodi-Sadalga, Athani, Kagwad; and B.K. Arts, Science and Commerce College for Hukkeri, Kudachi (SC), Yamkanmardi (ST), and Raybag segments in Chikkodi town. Counting of votes of Gokak, Arabhavi, Belgaum North, Belgaum South, Belgaum Rural, Kittur, Bailhongal, Soudatti-Yallamma, Ramdurg and Khanapur segments will take place at Gogte Institute of Technology at Udyambag in Belgaum.

MES team to meet Pawar, Thackeray

Source The Hindu
Five-man panel to be set up
It will appeal for support to MES in Karnataka polls
‘BJP growth has caused loss to MES’

The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (MES) has decided to set up a five-member committee to work for unity of all political parties enjoying support of Marathi-speaking people in its favour.
The committee members would soon meet Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Mumbai and appeal to them to support the cause of MES in the Assembly elections in Karnataka.

This was decided at a meeting of MES members under the leadership of the former Minister and president of Shetkari Kamgar Paksha in Maharashtra, N.D. Patil, here on Wednesday.
The former MES MLAs, B.I. Patil, Manohar Kinekar and Digamber Patil, and senior MES leaders Malojirao Ashtekar, Deepak Dalvi and the editor of Marathi daily, Tarun Bharat, Kiran Thakur, were present.

Today’s meeting was introspective in nature as the leaders tried to look into the reasons that led to the fall of the MES in the previous two Assembly polls in the State. Mr. N.D. Patil observed that, in Karnataka, a sizeable section of Marathi-speaking youth in Belgaum district had drifted away from the MES to the BJP. The losses suffered by the MES were because of the growth of the BJP and not because of the Congress or any other party in the State.

As a majority of workers/supporters of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra were Marathi-speaking, the committee members would request their leaders not to field candidates in Assembly pockets where MES has an edge. This would help the MES to ensure unity and elicit complete support of Marathi-speaking voters in the polls.
The Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party are expected to make a common cause with MES in the ensuing polls. It was also necessary for the leaders to remain united and work for success of its candidates, he said.

Whose contestting form your Constitunecy:Belgaum North, South& Rural

These are the few names finalised by the various parties for the various Belgaum Constituencies.
Belgaum North: Firoz Sait(Khimjibhai) (Indian National Congress)
Shankargouda Patil (BJP)

Belgaum South: Abhay Patil (BJP), Sambhaji Patil (INC)Most likely

Belgaum Rural: Nagesh K. Desai (BJP)

The MES candidates for the all the seats have to be still decided. This time the fight will be not triangular nor the earlier way like Marathi Vs Kannada. After the delimitation the background has changed and this time the victory of any candidate will be by very very few margin of votes.
Kannada people might vote their Kannda candidate, Marathi people might vote for their candidate. The shivsena may also contest,so the marathi votes will get divided. The BSP may also file in its candidate and of course in the independents from various parties who could not get the ticket.
The votes will get divided and nobody can surely say one will win. Yes, of course money and muscle power will play a important role in some areas.

But be sure Belgaumites, this election will not be a easy one. All the political parties will play their card. But we Belgaumites, must vote for a person who will work for us, may be he is a Kannada or a Marathi or any other....Vote for a Better Belgaum.

Belgaum gets its second Kannada-speaking Mayor

Source : The Hindu
SURPRISE WINNERS: Prashanta Shantinath Budavi (left) and Yunis B. Momin who were elected as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Belgaum respectively on Tuesday.
Belgaum: A Kannada-speaking candidate on Tuesday was elected Mayor of Belgaum, which is considered a stronghold of the Maharashtra Ekikarani Samiti (MES). The MES lost the Deputy Mayor’s post to an Urdu-speaking candidate.
Regional Commissioner, Amita Prasad, who officiated as Returning Officer, declared Prashanta Shantinath Budavi elected as Mayor and Yunis B. Momin elected as Deputy Mayor.
The post of Mayor was reserved for woman (general) and that of Deputy Mayor for “general”. Ms. Budavi and Mr. Momin polled 30 votes each as against 28 votes polled by MES candidates Neelima Paushe and Netaji Balu Mangutkar. The Kannada organisations and workers, who had all the reasons to celebrate the victory, had to be content with offering floral tributes to the statue of Rani Channamma at Channamma Circle, thanks to the prohibitory orders in force.
Ms. Budavi and Mr. Momin belong to Sarvabhashik Samvichar Vikas Vedike floated by a Kannada-Urdu speaking corporators with the help of a small breakaway group of MES led by the former Mayor Sambhaji Patil.
Belgaum MP Suresh C. Angadi, who did not vote in the past mayoral polls, yielded to pressure from the BJP leadership and Kananda groups and cast his vote in favour of the vedike candidates.
Thirty-seven-year-old Ms. Budavi hails from Kittur. She is the wife of Shantinath Budavi, City president of Kannada Rakshana Vedike. A home-maker, she represents Ward No.58 in the Council. Mr. Momin, 44, is a Science graduate and represents Ward No. 47 in the city.
However, Ms. Budavi is the second Kannada-speaking candidate to be elected Mayor. The first Kannada candidate who held the Mayor’s post was veteran Kannada leader Siddangouda Patil from June 30, 1991 to December 25, 1992.
The then Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government led by the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh had yielded to pressure from Kannada organisations and on November 21, 2005 superseded the corporation Council headed by the then Mayor Vijay Pandurang More for taking a stand favouring merger of areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people in Belgaum with Maharashtra.
Ms. Budavi and Mr. Momin expressed their gratitude to SSVV members, their leader Sambhaji Patil and Mr. Angadi for their election.
The reservation for women has ensured 16 women being elected to the civic body in September 2007 polls. Ever since the formation of the corporation, four of the 19 Mayoral terms hitherto, were led by three women corporators. Vijayalakshmi Vishnu Chopde was the first woman Mayor who completed her term from February 15, 1996 to February 15, 1997.
Vandana Mohan Belgundkar was the only woman to have served two full mayoral terms in same Council from June 16, 2001 to June 19, 2002 and later again from September 3, 2004 to September 5, 2005. Neelima Chavhan was the third woman to head the Council from June 29, 2002 to June 29, 2003.
Also, five deputy mayoral terms were served by four women members — Kusuma Krishna Tapale (Mayor 24, 1990 to June 29, 1991), Gourabai Jaipal Londe (February 15, 1997 to March 30, 1998), Asma Tahsildar (April 17, 2000 to February 13, 2001) and Veena Kolkar (from June 16 to 19, 2001 and June 30, 2003 to September 3, 2004). Unity paid off
Mr. Angadi has attributed the victory of Kannada speaking candidate belonging to Sarvabhashik Samvichar Vikas Vedike as Mayor of the 58-member corporation to the vedike members who remained united until the end. He told The Hindu soon after the results of the Mayoral polls were declared here on Tuesday afternoon that the credit should go to all the corporators, including the Urdu and two Marathi-speaking corporators who were united under the banner of the vedike to create a history of sorts.
Nobody else could claim the success of the vedike candidates, he said. Kannada Rakshana Vedike’s office-bearer said that but Mr. Angadi’s vote, no body else in the city or district came forward to support the vedike.

Kannada Mayor after 26 years

Mrs.Prashanta Budvi is the new Mayor for Belgaum and Mr.Younis Momin is the Dy.Mayor.
After 26 years Kannada group has made it to the Mayors post and the king maker Shambhaji Patil played his cards correctly.