Mangaluru: With the Karnataka state legislative assembly elections fast approaching, it’s “win big or go home” for many of the veteran legislators. Considering that everyone has something to lose, most prominent parties have played it safe and stuck to fielding familiar faces at the election battle grounds. One party however, has taken a huge risk by fielding new candidates and now, their hopes of winning the election rides on the strength of these fresh faces.
After a long delay, the BJP was able to deliver its much awaited 3rd list of candidates on April 20. The list carried a lot of importance since the three major stronghold constituencies of the saffron party in the coastal belt viz. Mangaluru North, Mangaluru South and Mangaluru were included, and much to the surprise of many, all the tickets were handed to the debutantes to try their luck against the incumbent Congress lawmakers.
K Vedavyas Kamath, the Mangaluru South BJP President has been given the chance to contest against former bureaucrat-turned-politician and current MLA, J R Lobo. Even though there were more than 4 contenders for the ticket in this high voltage constituency, the party zeroed in on Vedavyas Kamath, as they have been eyeing his community votes considering he is a prominent member of the GSB community which holds a major chunk of the votes in this constituency. His close proximity to MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and his organising skills as a local unit president has also played a key role in his selection. But, the major contender here for the BJP will be one-time-party strong man and a popular GSB leader, Srikar Prabhu, who is sure to take a share of the BJP’s traditional votes here, making J R Lobo’s life easy.
On the other hand, in Mangaluru North, the BJP has fielded a relatively new face; a former Janata Dal (S) leader and BJP unit head in the constituency, Y Bharath Shetty against incumbent MLA Mohiudeen Bava, who irrespective of a series of allegations by the opposition parties has been able to maintain a good connection with people of all religions. Except for the recent dissidence expressed by the former Congress MLA and a ticket aspirant, Vijaya Kumar Shetty and a debut entry of CPI (M) candidate Muneer Katipalla, who is expected to take away a portion of Bava’s Muslim votes, the BJP will have a tough time stopping Bava from reclaiming the seats unless disheartened former minister J Krishna Palemar and one more ticket aspirant, BJP’s Minority Cell President Satyajith Surathkal, come together for the party’s sake and work hard to get its seat back.
In the Congress bastion Mangaluru, where a 3-time MLA and Congress Minister U T Khader is trying for a reelection, the BJP has once again zeroed in on another unit president Santhosh Rai Boliyaru, who is also a new player. With the support and PR the incumbent Khader enjoys, it would be an extremely tough challenge for the BJP’s local unit here to open its account after 14 years. Its last MLA was K Jayaram Shetty way back in 1994, when it was the Ullal Vidhana Sabha Constituency. Unlike the other two constituencies, there is no dissidence in the party which is an advantage, and only if the party cadres put in their best efforts, there will be a chance for another BJP MLA from here.
With the Akhila Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, a saffron front also contesting the elections with their candidates Dharmendra from Mangaluru South Constituency and Suresh B Salian from Mangaluru North Constituency, it will be a herculean task for the BJP to bring in Hindu votes into its kitty as there are many wanting the same share of votes.
The delay in announcing the candidates, to avoid rebel candidates and to douse dissidence, by itself has helped the opposition gain extra energy. But, the BJP is a cadre based party and knows to work from the ground level. The organised booth level agents and Navashakthi teams are not in the mood to lose any opportunity to bring their party back to power in the state. Even the women’s wings are very active and have done their share of campaigning in the recently concluded “Mane Mane Kamala” programme. Also, the party leaders are always saying “don’t look at the candidate but vote for PM Narendra Modi’s development work and the party symbol.”
But the real question is, will the people of the to-be “smart city” vote for a symbol or will they prefer to vote for a candidate who is near and dear to them?
