Mangalore: Coastal voters snub BJP, jubilant Congress celebrates victory

Mangalore, May 8: During the last five years, the voters of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts have undergone a change of heart, going by the results of the assembly election held on Sunday May 5. Although the BJP appeared to have been prepared for some reverses, and bad news, the extent of drubbing has apparently shocked its workers and leaders. Both the districts had been strong bases of the Congress party in the post independence era, although there were a few exceptions. There was a time when the then PSP and Swatantra party had won seats. In the last couple of decades, There had been a recognizable support to the BJP, although the efforts of JDS, SP, BSP etc to gain a foothold here failed. In the 2008 election, for example, BJP had won eight out of the 13 seats in the twin-districts with the remaining five going to the Congress. This year however, the voters have chosen 11 Congress candidates, giving the balance two to the BJP. It may be noted that Puttur, which had been a BJP bastion, has fallen to the Congress,while Sullia continues to be retained by Angara of the BJP against general expectations. With the victory of Congress candidates, Khadar from Mangalore, and Ramanath Rai from Bantwal, both the seats are retained by the sitting MLAs. Out of 13 constituencies, five MLAs have been able to retain their seats ie Mangalore, Bantwal, Sullia, Moodbidri, and Beltangady. Out of them,Sullia is the only constituency retained by the BJP, with the rest going to the Congress. Two of the major victories for Congress came in the cities of Mangalore (South constituency) and Udupi. While newcomer J R Lobo defeated four-time BJP MLA Yogish Bhat comprehensively by a margin of 12,275 votes, Pramod Madhwaraj scored a massive victory over BJP's Sudhakar Shetty, winning by a margin of over 39,000 votes. There is allround jubilation in the Congress camp and victory processions are being held everywhere in the district. As before, no other party including JD(S) could make an impact on the electorate. Congress appears to have scored over the BJP because of the selection of better candidates, at least in some of these these constituencies, and the twin-districts are set to get two or three ministerial berths in the new ministry in the state. M.Arif Kalkatta