How did the issues related to Hijab and Maharashtra Border dispute disappeared from the campaign in Karnataka Elections 2023?

Election campaigning is in full swing ahead of the polling in Karnataka on May 10. Meanwhile, all those issues which were in headlines a month back seem to be disappearing. For example, issues like hijab, border dispute etc. have disappeared from the election campaign in Karnataka. Talking about Khanapur and other border villages, the Karnataka-Maharashtra border dispute is not an election issue here. If seen, the Khanapur assembly constituency in Belagavi district of North Karnataka, which has been stuck in a border dispute on linguistic basis for the last seven decades, is yearning for development and people are reposing faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its early resolution. Let us tell you that Khanapur, a Marathi-speaking majority area, is one of the 264 villages recommended by the Mahajan Commission in 1967 to be given to the neighboring state of Maharashtra. It also includes Nippani assembly constituency. Tragically, the dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra over the transfer of linguistically dominated villages gradually became a politically sensitive issue. The Khanapur assembly seat has been won mostly by the MES since assembly elections in Karnataka began in 1960, but no candidate has been re-elected so far. BJP won this seat for the first time in 2008 while Congress won this seat for the first time in 2018.

The Maharashtra government’s petition is pending in the Supreme Court challenging the non-implementation of the Mahajan Commission’s recommendations of the State Reorganization Acts, 1956 and 1967, due to which Khanapur has been neglected and there are no bus facilities and schools in forest areas, proper roads, bridges And there is a lack of basic facilities including canal and higher educational institutions. Not only Khanapur but residents of many villages involved in the dispute are waiting for its early resolution so that there is no further delay in the development works. Let us tell you that the Mahajan Commission in its report submitted in 1967 had recommended that 264 villages should be merged with Maharashtra and Belagavi and 247 villages should remain in Karnataka. However, Maharashtra objected to the report calling it biased and illogical while Karnataka welcomed it.

Where did the hijab controversy go?

On the other hand, hijab is no longer a big issue in the campaign in the coastal region of Karnataka. If seen, the controversial issue of Muslim girl students wearing ‘hijab’ in educational institutions, which was in national headlines last year, does not seem to be gaining momentum in the Karnataka assembly election campaign. The issue gained momentum after a government pre-university college in Udupi banned the wearing of hijab for classes. Let us tell you that the BJP government in the state had banned wearing hijab inside educational campuses under an order last year after the controversy caught on. The government had said that any dress affecting equality, integrity and law and order would not be allowed. Students were instructed to wear the dress prescribed for pre-university colleges and schools.

The order was issued after several hijab-clad girl students were denied entry into educational institutions in the state. The move was followed by widespread protests across the country. The Karnataka High Court had upheld the government’s order after some Muslim girl students moved the court. Subsequently, the verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court, which delivered a split verdict in October. The matter will be further heard by a larger bench. Yashpal Suvarna, who was BJP’s poster boy during the hijab controversy, is now the party’s candidate from the Udupi assembly seat. Let us tell you that when this controversy arose, he was the Vice-Chairman of the Development Committee of the Udupi Government Pre-University College for Women. The party has fielded Suvarna, who is a leader of the Mogaveera (fisherman community) and has a strong hold over party workers, from the seat in place of sitting MLA Raghupati Bhat.

However, the hijab issue is not being raised vigorously during the election campaign and the BJP is focusing on fighting the election on the issue of development. If any party is secretly making the hijab issue a campaign topic, it is the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the banned PFI. Political analysts say that he is the real beneficiary of this issue, through which he wants to stir up the sentiments of the Muslim community. Let us tell you that in the last assembly elections, BJP had won 12 out of 13 seats in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

problems of farmers

On the other hand, talking about the farmers, let us tell you that the best quality raisins in India are produced in Vijayapura district of North Karnataka, yet the farmers here are not getting better prices due to lack of marketing infrastructure and they They want that the government that comes to power after the assembly elections this time should solve their problems. Let us tell you that the name of Bijapur was changed to Vijayapura in 2014, soon after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to power at the Center. Vijayapura district has eight assembly constituencies including Bableshwar and Vijayapura city. Political representation here in the current assembly is almost evenly split. The state’s ruling BJP and Congress have three MLAs each from the region, while the Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) represents two regions.

Until a few years ago, irrigation was the main problem faced by farmers in the drought-prone region of this agrarian district, which was solved in 2013 with the release of a canal from the Krishna Barrage. At that time MB Patil, sitting Congress MLA from Babaleshwar assembly constituency, was the water resources minister. Now water has reached most of the agricultural land of the district and in the last few years the production of grapes and its cultivation area has increased but this has created a new problem of marketing.

On repeated demand, an online auction market for raisins was opened in Vijaypur town a few years ago, but farmers faced many problems as rates varied widely from lot to lot despite production in the same plot. Was. Actually the middlemen should pay Goods and Services Tax, but they were taking this amount from the farmers. This demoralized the farmers and forced them to sell raisins through middlemen in the border areas of Maharashtra. Irrigation has helped increase the area under grape cultivation in Vijayapura district from 40,000 acres to 75,000 acres, said KH Mamada Reddy, president of the Karnataka Grape Growers Association. He said that the best quality raisins are produced in Vijayapura, yet farmers are not getting better prices. With BJP and Congress candidates busy campaigning, grape farmers in the region are pinning their hopes on the approved food garden at Ittangihal village in Bableshwar assembly constituency and demanding that the leaders in power complete the project soon. be sure to do.