Bengaluru, April 30 : It's former royalty versus former IAS officer in Raichur parliamentary seat in Karnataka.

The BJP has fielded sitting MP and erstwhile royal, Raja Amareshwara Naik who won by a margin of 1.17 lakh votes in the 2019 General Elections.

G Kumar Naik, a senior former IAS officer is the Congress' candidate for the seat.

Raichur District is one of the aspirational districts of the state and social indicators still remain disappointing.

Activists have been protesting continuously for the establishment of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the last 18 months and the agitation still continues.

Raja Amareshwara Naik hails from the local erstwhile royal family. He is a law graduate and he was elected to the Assembly twice.

On the other hand Kumar Naik is a 1990 Karnataka cadre officer and post retirement, he has joined the Congress party.

The BJP and the Congress are equally confident of their victory.

BJP MLA and Raichur BJP District President, Shivaraj Patil told IANS that there was no doubt that the party would win this seat as the Congress candidate has done injustice and not done anything for this region.

MLA Patil explained, 'The Yeramarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS) was constructed and it has made the entire region dusty and hot. The problems of farmers who lost their lands have not been solved. The candidate was incharge of the district for 15 years as a Secretary, but did nothing here. Then he became the District Collector of Raichur and did nothing. His contribution to the district is nil.'

'There is no doubt about the victory of the BJP candidate and we will win the election with a more handsome margin,' he stated.

However, sources close to Congress candidate G. Kumar Naik said that everything was going smoothly for the party and two ministers from the district were working day and night for his victory.

While Minister for Minor Irrigation, N Boseraju, is monitoring campaigning in Raichur District, Minister for Small Scale Industries and Public Enterprises Sharanabasappa Darshanapur is in charge of three Assembly segments of Yadgir District.

Sources also stated that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is visiting the parliamentary segment on May 1 and a senior Congress leader is flying down to the constituency on May 2.

They said that thousands of individuals and government officers have voluntarily come forward and joined campaigning after seeing G. Kumar Naik's work and contributions to the region.

The Raichur parliamentary segment comprises Shorapur, Shahpur, Yadgir, Raichur Rural, Raichur, Manvi, Devadurga and Lingsugur Assembly constituencies. Out of these, five seats are reserved.

The Congress party has four MLAs, BJP two and JD(S) one.

In Shorapur Assembly constituency, a bye-election is being held following the demise of the Congress MLA Raja Venkatappa Nayak.

The Congress has fielded Raja Venugopal Nayak and the BJP has pitched in Narasimha Nayak for this seat.

The polling would be conducted along with the parliamentary election on May 7.

Both the Congress and BJP are claiming that the bye-election is helping them consolidate the voter base for their Lok Sabha candidates.

The Congress is hoping to bank on the beneficiaries of guarantees from all classes. They are also confident of getting votes of oppressed classes and minorities.

On the other hand, the BJP is relying on the Lingayat vote bank.

The BJP said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wave would fetch them votes, especially from the marginalised classes.

Since 1957, the BJP has won the seat twice, once in 2009 and then in 2019, while the Congress has won it 13 times. The JD(S) had won the seat in 1996.

The BJP has allotted the ticket to the sitting MP despite internal opposition and the Congress had also denied ticket to BV Nayak who secured 4.80 lakh votes in the 2019 General Election and secured second place.

/IANS