Undivided DK-All set for the electoral battle

Undivided DK-All set for the electoral battle

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, May 4, 2013: The stage is set for the much awaited Assembly elections-2013 to be held on May 5, Sunday. The elections are expected to see some close contests, interesting battles and keen tussles. Whom will the voter choose ultimately? Will the ULB  election results be repeated? Will the pre-poll predictions come true? Is there an anti-incumbency wave in the state? Will the Congress cash in on the failures of the BJP government?  It all depends on the voter  who will exercise his valuable  franchise tomorrow.

Electioneering drew to a close on May 3, Friday with both the BJP and the Congress taking out rallies. Already,  top political leaders   right from Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and  Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for their respective parties. Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Varun Gandhi too were in the district to campaign for the BJP, while the Congress too had roped in several including star campaigners like Ramya, Bhavana to woo the voters.

A total of 71 candidates are in fray in the eight assembly constituencies of DK district.The highest number of 15 candidates are in Mangalore Assembly constituency followed by Bantwal, Puttur and Moodbidri where there are 6 candidates each. Highest number of independents (8) too are in Mangalore constituency.

It was high pitch campaigning with  parties leaving no stone unturned to woo voters..Almost all the eight Assembly constituencies in DK and five constituencies in  Udupi district  will witness an interesting battle. The Congress is fielding all its sitting MLAs while the BJP has been boasting that it has given chances to fresh faces too.

Yogish Bhat v/s JR Lobo
Mangalore South Constituency will see an interesting battle between  four  time MLA Yogish Bhat and first timer JR Lobo of the Congress.  The Congress candidate is confident of a win so is BJP’s Yogish Bhat who though is facing the allegation that  he failed to achieve anything significant during his  four time stint. The JD(S) has fielded SP Changappa as its candidate while Vasanth Achari is contesting from the CPI(M). Their candidature is unlikely to make any difference as the battle will actually be between Lobo and Bhat.

Mangalore North-Krishna  Palemar v/s Moideen Bava
The Mangalore North, another prestigious constituency where several major projects are located is seeing the same  candidates pitted by the BJP and Congress last time. The Congress which had chosen Moidin Bava as its candidate after much hiccups is hoping of a win from this constituency against Krishna Palemar, the sitting MLA. In the previous Assembly elections Palemar had won by a margin of 12,426 votes against  Bava.

Mangalore Constituency: Mangalore Constituency (erstwhile Ullal) with a majority Muslim  population, is the traditional  forte of the Congress. Except for  CPI candidate A Krishna Shetty who won from here in 1962 and BJP candidate Jayaram Shetty in 1994 elections, it were the Congress candidates who have registered  victory from here. This is the third time that the constituency is seeing UT Khader of the Congress as its candidate against Chandrahas Ullal of the BJP. Perhaps, this is the only constituency in the state where a  son has represented  the constituency after the demise of this father. UT Khader’s father UT Fareed was selected an MLA from here in 1972, 1978, 1999 and 2004. This is also the constituency which had elected the poet politician BM Idinabba of the Congress for two terms. This time, the  Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)  has fielded its candidate Akram Hassan. It is now left to be seen if the presence of an SDPI candidate will lead to a split in votes this time.

Bantwal - Ramanath Rai v/s Rajesh  Naik

The Bantwal  constituency will this time  see an interesting battle between sitting MLA and DCC President Ramanatha Rai and BJP’s  Rajesh Naik, who is a new face. Already Ramanatha Rai has created a record with five wins except in the 2004 elections when he lost to Nagaraj Shetty. Ramanath Rai who won the elections last time by a margin of 1251 votes, is confident of winning by a huge margin this time and thereby create a new record. The BJP on its part is leaving no stone unturned in  achieving its endeavour of defeating the Congress heavy weight. It actually has taken seriously the statement of Rai that his fight was against Kalladka Prabhaker Bhat and not Naik.

Puttur: Shashikala Shetty v/s Sanjeeva Matandoor
Puttur is certainly a constituency which will be keenly watched. Once represented by former CM DV Sadananda Gowda, this time Puttur sees a battle between an ex-BJP leader Shakuntala Shetty who is now a Congress candidate and BJP’s Sanjeeva Matandoor. Shaku, a popular politician of the region had remained in political oblivion after her defeat in the previous assembly polls when she contested as a rebel candidate under the banner of Swabhimani Vedike of her political mentor Ram Bhat.  Will Shaku magic  work or will the BJP make it even this time?

Triangular contest in Moodbidri

Moodbidri will see a triangular contest between  sitting MLA Abhayachandra Jain, BJP’s Umanath Kotian who also happens to be the Tulu Academy President and senior JD(S) man Amarnath Shetty.

In Belthangady sitting Congress  MLA and four-timer Vasanth Bangera is the candidate even this time from Belthangady and he will face Ranjan Gowda of the BJP.

Udupi -  Sudhakar Shetty v/s Pramod Madhwaraj:
The Udupi constituency witnessed an unprecedented political development ahead of the selection of candidates when a sleaze video allegedly involving the sitting  Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat surfaced. Bhat who was a strong contender had to backtrack  following the controversy and give way for Sudhaker Shetty, former UDA  Chairman. The Congress has pitted Block Congress President Pramod Madhwaraj from here. Sitting MLA Bhat has won from here in 2004 and 2008 elections, thus breaking the stronghold of the Congress over this constituency.

 

Keen contest in Kundapur :

Kundapur this time will see an interesting battle  this time as  former BJP MLA Halady Srinivas Shetty is contesting from this constituency this time as  an independent. It is believed several BJP men too are backing this leader who was ‘hurt’ and first quit his legislatorship and then the BJP for ditching him after promising a berth in Shettar cabinet. The BJP has fielded Kishore Kumar and the Congress  Malady Shivaram Shetty against Halady.

 

Triangular contest in Kaup: 

The BJP has fielded sitting MLA Lalaji Mendon from Kaup,  while the Congress in a surprise move has fielded former MP Vinaykumar Sorake forcing aspirant Vasanth Salian to rebel and contest as a JD(S) candidate.


The BJP has fielded Sukumar Shetty from Byndoor and V Sunil Kumar,former MLA from Karkala.The Congress has as its candidates MLA Gopal Bhandari from Karkala and  K Gopal Poojari from Byndoor.