On May 13, the results of the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 were announced. Congress’s incumbent MLA Kaneez Fatima has won from the Gulbarga North seat. Kaneez won the seat with 80,973 votes against BJP’s Chandrakant B Patil who got 78,261 votes.
Fatima made headlines in 2022 for leading hijab protests in her constituency. As per the 2011 census, district Gulbargi’s population was 25,66,326 out of which 20,11,014 (78.36%) were Hindus and 5,13,125 (19.99%) were Muslims. However, the Gulbarga North assembly seat has over 50% Muslim population according to polster Chanakya.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, Fatima got a total of 80,973 votes. BJP’s Lingayat leader Chandrakant B Patil (Chandu Patil) got 78,261 votes. The difference between the two was only 2,712 votes. This year, eight Muslim candidates contested the seat. They collectively got 18,525 votes out of which 17,048 votes went to JD(S) candidate Nasir Hussain Ustad. Notably, SDPI did not contest this seat. Fatima is the only Muslim woman candidate contesting in Assembly elections on Congress’s seat.
On the other hand, the sitting education minister of Karnataka BC Nagesh who upheld uniformity in school uniforms lost the election from the Tiptur constituency by 17,652 votes. Congress candidate K Shadakshari secured 71,999 votes while BC Nagesh could secure only 53,753 votes. Titpur is a Hindu-majority assembly seat with a Muslim population of only about 9.4%.
2018 elections performance
In the 2018 Assembly elections, Fatima got a total of 64,311 (43.29%) votes out of 2,74,281 total electors. She defeated BJP’s Patil, who also contested the seat in the 2023 elections, by 5,940 votes. Patil had got 58,371 (39.29%) votes. Eleven other Muslim candidates contested the election against her from the Gulbarga North seat, including Mohammed Mohsin of SDPI, who got 797 (0.54%) votes. JD(S) ‘s Nasir Hussain got 14,422 (9.71%) votes. Excluding Congress and BJP candidates, all others lost their deposits on this seat.
On the other hand, BC Nagesh had secured 61,383 votes defeating K Shadakshari who had secured 35,820 votes. There was a difference of 25,563 votes between the two. Interestingly, in the 2023 elections, BC Nagesh’s vote share was reduced by 7,630 votes. However, Shadakshari vote share increased by 46,436 votes. Shadakshari won majorly because of the vote share of independent candidates to Congress. In 2018 elections, 35,519 votes went to independent candidates compared to 2023, only 1,110 votes went to independent candidates. JD(S) managed to increase its vote share by 8,987.
Congress lost the Gulbarga City Council
Days before the Karnataka polls were announced, in March 2023, Congress lost Gulbarga City Council to BJP. Congress was the single largest party in the civic polls in 2021. However, BJP won the Mayor’s post in the city council. In the 55-member Council, Congress got 27 seats, BJP 23 and JD(s) four. Congress needed 32 votes, including votes of MPs, MLAs and MLCs in Kalaburagi but lost to BJP despite having an alliance with the JD(S).
Congress President lost Gulbarga seat in 2019
Current Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was MP from Gulbarga constituency from 2009 to 2019. However, he lost the Lok Sabha elections 2019 to BJP’s Umesh G Jadhav, who had resigned from Congress and joined BJP in March 2019, just before the Lok Sabha elections. He was later sent to Rajya Sabha in June 2020 from Karnataka, replacing Congress leader Rajeev Gowda. Kharge became Congress President in October 2022.
Mallikarjun losing a traditional Congress seat had a spiral effect on the stronghold of Congress in the constituency that reportedly resulted in losing Council at Gulbarg.
Karnataka Hijab row
Last year the Karnataka high court upheld a government order banning religious attire such as hijab or burqa in educational institutions and asked students to follow the dress code of educational institutions. Many Muslim students had taken to the streets to protest against the decision, with many wearing hijab and skull caps to classes while many even boycotting appearing for exams after being urged to adhere to the court ruling.
The Karnataka Hijab Row in Karnataka gained momentum in the first week of January 2022 after eight Muslim girls were denied entry to classes in a Udupi college because they were wearing hijabs. The college authorities had informed that the hijab was not a part of the uniform dress code mandated for the students.
The Muslim girls, adamant about wearing hijab, then filed a petition in High Court seeking permission to attend classes with hijab. They stated that wearing the hijab was their ‘fundamental right’ granted under Articles 14 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and an ‘integral practice of Islam’.
The controversy spiralled as Hindu students in Karnataka styled with saffron scarves around their necks and protested against Muslim girls continuing to wear hijab to college. Tensions also prevailed at some educational institutions in Udupi, Shivamogga, Bagalkote, and other parts, as stones-pelting and violence were reported from various parts of the state.
As reported earlier, the students had begun to wear hijab to schools and colleges after they had met the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student branch of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI), in October 2021. The students confessed that they had spoken with the CFI.
