The Belgaum electoral battle was expected to be a closely fought one, as the regional parties had made an issue over the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.
However, it seems like the people have rejected the ideologies of the regional parties and have preferred the promises of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had fought the elections based on developmental issues, rather than boundary disputes.
The Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi, which won two seats in the 2004 assembly elections, did not win even one in any of the three constituencies of Belgaum.
The party lost the elections to the Congress in Belgaum North and to the BJP in Belgaum South. The MES had pinned its hopes on Belgaum Rural in particular, where it lost to the BJP candidate.
Belgaum residents had earlier stated that this is the era of globalisation and they really were not bothered about border issues. There were various other relevant issues like water problem and unemployment, which needed to be addressed, and only a national party could tackle these issues.
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