By Fielding B Sriramulu, Can BJP Retain Bellary Lok Sabha Seat (Image: X/@sriramulubjp)

The Bellary Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka is famous for the high-voltage battle between Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and the BJP”s Sushma Swaraj in the 1999 general elections. On that occasion, Sonia Gandhi defeated the BJP”s firebrand politician by 56,000 votes. However, Congress has never won from Bellary since 2004.

BJP leader and former Minister B Sriramulu is the party candidate from Bellary for the upcoming polls. The 1999 general elections marked the emergence of B Sriramulu as Sushma Swaraj’s local aide. The same year, Sriramulu contested the Assembly elections from Bellary City. However, the Congress candidate defeated Sriramulu by over 8,000 votes. But Sriramulu became a popular figure in Karnataka politics by playing a vital role in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. He had also earlier served as a councillor in Bellary municipality.

In 2004, the influential Valmiki leader made his debut in the Karnataka assembly. He retained the seat in the 2008 Assembly polls and became minister for health in the government of BS Yeddyurappa. In 2011, he quit the BJP and later formed the BSR Congress Party. In the 2013 Assembly elections, BSR Congress secured four seats and grabbed a vote share of 2.7 percent. In 2014, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BSR Congress merged with the saffron party. Notably, Sriramulu won the Bellary parliamentary constituency that year. Sriramulu was considered close to Ballari mining magnet G Janardhana Reddy.

In the 2018 assembly polls, Sriramulu lost from Badami to senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah by a margin of 1,696 votes. However, he won the Molkalmuru Assembly seat by a margin of 40,000 votes. In the 2023 Assembly polls, he was defeated by B Nagendra of Congress in the Bellary seat by nearly 29,300 votes. The BJP decided to field Sriramulu from Bellary this time by dropping incumbent MP Y Devendrappa.