’Go back’ campaign against Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje intensifies

’Go back’ campaign against Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje intensifies

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, March 10, 2024: The ’Go Back’ campaign against Shobha Karandlaje, the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has escalated, with BJP workers voicing their objections to her candidacy at the party office in Chikkamagaluru on Sunday.

Previously, the campaign had been confined to postcard drives and social media activism. However, an election-related meeting took place at the BJP office on Sunday in the presence of MLA Araga Jnanendra and BJP leader Bhanu Prakash.

During the meeting, several party workers protested against fielding Shobha Karandlaje, insisting that the ticket should go to someone from Chikkamagaluru instead. They alleged that Karandlaje, who has represented the constituency for the past decade, lacks familiarity with the party’s block committee leaders.

Despite efforts by BJP district president Devaraj Shetty and others to persuade the dissenting workers, they expressed their dissatisfaction by staging a sit-in protest at the party office.

Addressing reporters in Belagavi on Saturday, Shobha Karandlaje claimed there was a conspiracy to deny her the BJP ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. She asserted her commitment to working for Prime Minister Narendra Modi regardless of her ticket status, adding that party leadership was investigating the reasons behind the opposition to her candidacy.

Meanwhile, in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP is confident of victory, a fresh twist has emerged with a former Congress candidate, Pramod Madhwaraj, who lost to Shobha Karandlaje in the 2019 general elections, now actively seeking the BJP ticket for the upcoming election. Madhwaraj joined the BJP in May 2022, adding spice to the electoral contest.