Belagavi: MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi announced that the panel led by him and Annasaheb Jolle would be fielding 13 candidates for the elections of the Belagavi District Central Cooperative (BDCC) Bank, which will be held on Oct 19 for the 16 director posts. Speaking to the media here on Thursday, he participated in the nomination filing process of seven candidates from different constituencies. He said the remaining six candidates would file their nominations on Oct 11.Former MP Annasaheb Jolle from Nippani, Appasaheb Kulagude from Raibag, MLA Vishwas Vaidya from Yaragatti, Virupakshi Mamani from Savadatti, former MLA Mahantesh Doddagoudar from Bailhongal, Vikram Inamdar from Kittur, and former MLA Arvind Patil filed nominations from the Khanapur constituency. “We tried to have candidates elected unopposed in several constituencies, but elections are likely to take place. We are not fielding candidates from Athani, Kagwad, and Chikkodi constituencies,” he said. When asked about the Belagavi constituency, Jarkiholi said, “The candidate will be announced at the time of nomination filing. Minister for public works Satish Jarkiholi and KLE Society chairman Prabhakar Kore will decide candidates for Chikodi and other cooperative constituencies.”He further said that the team was campaigning for four months across the district. “Many enthusiastic candidates are filing nominations. Some constituencies will witness close contests, while others may be symbolic,” he added. Jarkiholi also remarked that many current and former MLAs are contesting to strengthen their constituencies and maintain contact with grassroots voters.Not a Jarkiholi Vs Katti Family FightBalachandra Jarkiholi clarified that the BDCC Bank election should not be viewed as an extension of the Jarkiholi-Katti rivalry. “The BDCC Bank election is different from the Hukkeri Rural Electricity Cooperative Society election. That was at the taluk level, while this is at the district level,” he said.“This is not a feud between the two families. It’s a non-political election, and no political party is involved. All our panel members are contesting unitedly. The next bank president will be chosen from the Lingayat community directors,” he said.29 Nominations filedA total of 29 nominations were filed on Thursday by candidates contesting from various constituencies. Notable candidates like chief whip of the Govt Ashok Pattan and Mallappa Yadawad from Ramdurg, MLA Ganesh Hukkeri from Chikodi, and Uttam Patil from Nippani filed nominations.
