Belagavi: For the first time in its history, attempts are being made to ensure the Belagavi District Central Cooperative (BDCC) Bank elections go unopposed, under the leadership of Arabhavi MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi. Elections for the 15 director posts, one from each taluk, are scheduled for Oct 19. Balachandra has been holding consultations with aspirants across the district to build consensus.“Our panel is set to win at least 12 seats and take control of the BDCC management. We are working towards ensuring all seats go unopposed. Though in some taluks, elections may be unavoidable due to heavyweight contestants,” he said. Notably, the Jarkiholi brothers, including district minister Satish Jarkiholi, Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, and Balachandra himself, have shown rare unity in this election. Former MP Annasaheb Jolle and other leaders are also extending support.BDCC Bank has 853 members of Prathamik Krishi Pattin Society (PKPS) eligible to vote in the district. At a recent show-of-strength meeting in Gokak, 577 members attended, reflecting the influence of the Jarkiholi brothers. Following this, Balachandra is focusing on constituencies where building consensus is proving difficult.In Khanapur taluk, MLA Vitthal Halagekar and former MLA Arvind Patil declared their candidature. However, after the intervention of minister Satish Jarkiholi, MLC Channaraj Hattiholi, brother of minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, withdrew from the race. The panel has since backed Arvind Patil, with both Halagekar and Hattiholi reportedly agreeing to support him after talks with Balachandra.In Belagavi taluk, the candidature of Rahul Jarkiholi, son of Satish Jarkiholi, has been almost finalised. Hebbalkar’s son, Mrinal Hebbalkar, was also in contention. But he eventually withdrew in Rahul’s favour. “If Rahul contests, I will support him,” Laxmi Hebbalkar said.
