Dharwad Parliamentary Constituency (number 11) comprises eight assembly constituencies – Navalgund, Kundgol, Dharwad, Hubli-Dharwad-East, Hubli-Dharwad-Central, Hubli-Dharwad-West, Kalghatgi and Shiggaon. Six of these constituencies are held by the BJP while the remaining two (Kundgol and Hubli-Dharwad East) are held by Congress.

Dharwad constituency came into being during the delimitation in 2008. Since then, it has been represented by Pralhad Joshi of BJP.

While the constituency is new, this region’s history dates back a thousand years, to the 11th century temple of Aharanishankar. It was around this temple that Pubballi (meaning ‘the old village’) developed. A few centuries later, the nearby ‘gateway town’ Daravada was fortified. The administrative incorporation of the two cities Hubli and Dharwad that were 20 kms apart, was done in 1961. With this, 45 revenue villages spread over an area of 202 sq kms were brought together. Hubli-Dharwad is today the second most populous urban agglomeration in Karnataka, after Bengaluru.

The twin cities are home to over a thousand small and medium industries, a cotton market, a large agricultural produce market, an automotive manufacturer and its allied industries, and a pharma manufacturing unit. The region has also been home to greats like Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Padma awardees Gangubai Hangal and Mallikarjun Mansur, musicians like Kumar Gandharwa, two of Karnataka’s eight Jnanapith awardees – D R Bendre and Girish Karnad – and writers like Sudha Murthy, G A Kulkarni and Patil Putappa.

Hubli-Dharwad had also been chosen by the Ministry of Urban Development as one of the 100 cities to participate in the Smart City Challenge.

According to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, as of 16th January, the constituency had a total of 16,87,967 voters – 8,58,370 male, 8,29,495 female and 102 others. There are 1872 polling booths to enable these citizens to vote this election.

[flexiblemap src=”http://data.opencity.in/Data/Karnataka-Parliament-Constituency-Dhaward-Map-V-1.kml” width=”100%” height=”400px” ]

Note – Map for representation purpose | Source – http://datameet.org

Know your Candidates

Nineteen candidates are contesting from Dharwad this time, of whom nine represent political parties while the other 10 are independents. Find the links to their affidavits towards the end of this article.

Election Commission of India (ECI) had rejected six nominations from this constituency while four candidates had withdrawn their nominations. Only one woman is contesting from here this time, same as in the 2014 election.

Pralhad Joshi

Pic: loksabhaph.nic.in

Pralhad Joshi, the incumbent MP, is the BJP candidate from the constituency again. A two-time MP from Dharwad, he is also currently the General Secretary of BJP’s Karnataka unit.

• Age: 56 years
• Education: BA
• Profession: Social service and Business
• Voter in: Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly Constituency
• Website: pralhadjoshi.in
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pralhadvjoshi
• Twitter: @JoshiPralhad
• Criminal cases: One. Case number 0032/2018 in JMFC III Court, Hubli. The case was filed under Sections 153 A, 298 of IPC, for allegedly disturbing peace and igniting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims.

Assets and liabilities

Over his last tenure, Joshi’s assets had increased by over 165 percent, from around Rs 4 cr to Rs 11 cr.

Pralhad Joshi’s political career, and the establishment of the BJP in this region, is said to have taken off in the 1990s, with the Idgah Maidan controversy. Earlier in his career, Joshi was BJP’s Dharwad District President. He first became an MP in 2004, from the erstwhile Dharwad North parliamentary constituency. In 2009 and 2014, he was re-elected from Dharwad constituency.

Out of Joshi’s MPLADS funds of Rs 25 cr, Rs 13.5 cr was sanctioned for various local works between 2014 and 2019. Of this, Rs 10.3 crores was spent by the district administration for the works.

Information about his attendance in the current term (2014-2019), debates participated in etc., can be found here. Similar details with respect to his previous term (2009-2014) can be found here. More details about Joshi, including positions held, can be found here and here.

In the news

• Feb 2019: Joshi made a controversial remark that there were terrorists in each house in Kashmir
• Oct 2018: Spoke against K S Bhagawan’s statement about Dasara
• Mar 2018: An FIR was registered against him for an alleged communal remark
• Nov 2017: Joshi expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of implementing Smart City Project
• Mar 2013: He was appointed Karnataka BJP President

Vinay Kulkarni

Pic: facebook.com/vinaykulkarni.official/

Vinay Kulkarni is the candidate representing Indian National Congress from Dharwad. Due to the pre-poll alliance between JD(S) and Congress, there is no JD(S) candidate from here this election. Kulkarni was first elected as an independent MLA from Dharwad Rural assembly constituency in 2004. He joined INC thereafter. He also won the 2013 assembly election, and was the Minister for Mines and Geology in the Siddaramaiah government in 2015-16.

Kulkarni had lost the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, both to BJP candidates.

• Age: 52 years
• Education: 12th pass; B Sc (Agriculture), discontinued
• Voter in: Hubbali-Dharwad West assembly constituency
• Background: Belongs to a family of political leaders. His grandfather M K Kulkarni was a four-time MLA from Navalgund constituency
• Facebook: facebook.com/vinaykulkarni.official/
• Website: vinaykulkarni.in/minister/
• Instagram: i_am_vinay_kulkarni
• Pending criminal cases: None

Assets and liabilities

In the news

• April 2019: On promises he made this election campaign
• March 2019: Twelve people lost their lives in a building collapse where the construction was being carried out by a relative of Kulkarni
• Dec 2017: On an alleged attempt on his life
• Sep 2017: He was among those leading the demand for a separate religious identity for the Lingayats, and was made the President of the Rashtriya Basava Sene on its launch

Irappa Madar

Pic: Affidavit

Irappa Madar is the BSP candidate from the constituency. He had contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha election too from Dharwad, but lost to Pralhad Joshi.

• Age: 44 years
• Education: 10th standard
• Voter in: Kundgol assembly constituency
• Pending criminal cases: None

Assets and liabilities

He is one of the few candidates whose assets declined and liabilities went up multifold over the last five years.

Full list of candidates

Source: http://www.myneta.info/LokSabha2019/index.php?action=show_candidates&constituency_id=626

Find candidates’ campaign expenditure details here.

2014 Lok Sabha Elections

In the 2014 elections, there were 15.78 lakh registered voters (8.08 lakh men, 7.6 lakh women and 88 others) in the constituency. Of them, 65.99 percent i.e., around 10.4 lakh people, cast their votes (5.6 lakh men, 4.7 lakh women, and 1040 postal votes).

In that election:

• 17 candidates contested, of whom 15 forfeited their deposits
• Vinay Kulkarni of INC did well in Navalgund and Hubali-Dharwad East, while Joshi got 50 percent or more of the votes cast in the remaining assembly constituencies

Sources: ELECTION STATISTICS-2014 , AC_Wise_PC_PDF_Result