The lone Congress nominee to win in the Kittur Karnataka region is Priyanka, daughter of minister Satish Jarkiholi, who defeated incumbent MP Annasaheb Jolle from Chikkodi constituency.
Priyanka Jarkiholi, daughter of Minister Satish Jarkiholi and a congress candidate was declare victorious over Annasaheb Jolle; BJP leader and sitting MP from Chikkodi.
Mr. Priyanka became the youngest tribal woman to enter Parliament from an unreserved seat in Karnataka since independence. In fact, BJP won all the seats in Mumbai Karnataka, except Chikkodi.
Priyanka Jarkiholi has several firsts. She became the first woman from the tribal community to win from an unreserved seat in Karnataka. Additionally she is also only the second leader belonging to a reserved class (not Scheduled Caste or Tribe) to win from a general seat, after Kotturu Hariharappa Ranganath who was Lok Sabha member for Chitradurga during 1984-89.
Ms. Priyanka will be one of the youngest members ever in Parliament. As at June 4 she was 27 years 1 month and 18 days old. The minimum age for contesting Parliament polls is 25 years.
Another victorious Congress nominee Sagar Khandre from Bidar is even younger than her with age standing at 26 years five months and twenty four days old.
Even earlier surprises have come out of Chikkodi constituency. Ratnamala Pol Savanur who defeated MP and union minister B Shankaranand seven times in 1996 was once just a law college professor there then Ms Savanur was not Janata Party’s candidate again when nominations were made again two years later though she had been initially nominated as candidate by this party Ramesh Jagajinagi next three elections he contested through three parties – Janata Dal, Lok Shakti and BJP.
In a recent interview with this paper in April, Ms Jarkiholi said that more women need to be part of public life. “There is a need for more and more women in politics to ensure that government acts like passing laws and implementing schemes and programmes. But then we have to prove ourselves by our work. The general public may want to know the impact of providing reservations to women in rural and urban local bodies. Some say women from political families tend to listen to the men of the family, rather than making independent decisions. Such questions need to be answer by women who have got the opportunity to serve the people,’‘ she said.
She has also admitted that she belongs to an influential family with tremendous power which comes with it some hard-to-come-by benefits. She also knows that she is not only lone girl, but the second generation of Jarkiholi clan which has been ruling district politics since late 90s’. A post graduate in Business Administration, she has significant holdings across fourteen firms involved in tourism, sugar production, mining among others’’.
“I have multiple identities- a young person, the daughter of a Minister and a tribal girl who had the fortune to get a post-graduate education. I do not shy away from these identities. But then, to be a good leader or a capable you need prove yourself. I hope I will,’’ she said.
Accordingly June 4 was mark as victory day by her where people put all their efforts on ballot box. “This was possible only because of the hard work of party workers leaders and support from voters.” Friends from party including MLAs provided unstinted help as if it were their own election campaign The presence of various state schemes implemented by Congress government coupled with my father’s image helped me win,’’ he added.,
