How AIMIM cut into Congress votes in Hubballi-Dharwad
The Hindu
A visit by the AIMIM chief seems to have swung voters
All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), which contested in the elections to three key municipal corporations of North Karnataka – Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi, and Kalaburagi – for the first time, has made its presence felt by winning three seats in Hubballi and one in Belagavi. The performance of MIM is a definite cause for concern for the Congress, particularly in Hubballi-Dharwad. One visit by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi seems to have swung voters in Hubballi-Dharwad East Assembly Constituency, which has sizeable number of Muslim voters, and is the lone seat held by Congress in Dharwad district. AIMIM’s all three victories came from wards in this constituency. In this constituency, represented by Congress MLA Prasad Abbayya, AIMIM has secured over 18,000 votes. The District unit president of AIMIM Nazeer Ahmed Honyal, a former Congressman, won comfortably in ward 71 of Hubballi pushing the Congress candidate Mohammed Ahmed Halwoor (son of Congress urban district unit President) to the third position, while a rebel Congress candidate and former councillor Ganesh Tagargunti finished second. The winning margin was 1077.A crowd comprising farmers, researchers, professors, students, and horticulture enthusiasts thronged the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru, on Friday for the inaugural ceremony of the Triphal Diversity Show which showcased 300 mango, 100 jackfruit, and 100 banana genotypes in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli.
The State government on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director-General of Police, Manish Kharbikar of the Economic Offences division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the alleged multi-crore scam in the government-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.