Will Vinod Asuti Be Successful In Getting Political Representation For Kurubas In Dharwad?

Dharwad is one of the 28th Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka which was established as part of the 2008 parliamentary constituency delimitation process. Dharwad hosted its first election in 2009 with a BJP candidate winning the seat. Since then BJP candidate Pralhad Joshi has been elected from Dharwad. To face the four-time MP and Union minister Pralhad Joshi again in the constituency, Congress has nominated Vinod Asuti, a young Congress leader who belongs to the Kuruba community. The election is going to be held on May 7, 2024, in Dharawad.

Kurubas are sizable in number but lack political representation in the state. So Asuti who is said to be a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is being considered as a ray of hope for the Kuruba community. He was a strong contender from the Navalgund segment however, Congress fielded NH Konaraddi in the 2023 assembly elections.

Ligayat seer Dingaleshwar Swami has also submitted his nomination from here against the BJP candidate Pralhad Joshi however he withdrew his nomination.

In the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency out of 8 assembly segments, 4 were won by INC and 4 by BJP. These segments include Navalgund, Kundgol, Dharwad, Hubli-Dharwad Central, Hubli-Dharwad- West, Kalghatgi, Shiggaon, and Hubli-Dharwad-East. In the last general elections, the BJP candidate won 56.43% votes and the INC candidate Vinay Kulkarni got 39.54 percent the votes.

Dharwad is a general category seat with a literacy rate of 70.16 percent. The constituency has a sizeable Muslim population with a 20.66 percent share of the total population. The SC and ST population is 10.13% and 5.22% respectively.