Hebbalkar plays up Cong chances in Belagavi seats

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Minister for Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar on Friday said that Congress’ chances were good of winning the two Lok Sabha seats in Belagavi districts.

She made the comments at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s official residence Krishna in Bengaluru on Friday.

They held a meeting with Belagavi district ministers, MLAs, district and taluk level leaders on the occasion. Belagavi district is home to Belagavi and Chikkodi Lok Sabha seats.

“We all are together in this election arena. We will dedicate this victory to you after winning in both the constituencies,” Hebbalkar told the CM.

Echoing his Cabinet colleague’s sentiment, CM Siddaramaiah said that Belagavi had received a good response in all the surveys the Congress had conducted.

“We should face the election together. We can definitely win all three Lok Sabha constituencies including Uttara Kannada and Belagavi districts,” he said. A day prior, candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats had been announced. Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal will contest from Belagavi, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka will be fielded from Chikkodi and Anjali Nimbalkar will be the Uttara Kannada candidate.

“In the Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha Constituency , people want a change this time and opinions have emerged that the people of Uttara Kannada district are angry as their previous MPs have not performed in the constituency. Therefore, many people expressed their opinion in the meeting that there are chances of victory here as well,” Siddaramaiah said.

Ministers Laxmi Hebbalkar, Satish Jarakiholi along with former minister Lakshman Savadi and MLAs of the district, former ministers and MLAs, MLCs and more than 40 district leaders participated in the meeting.