Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (KM/RD)
 
Mangalore, Sep 20: The Bakuda Community, a sect under the Scheduled Caste (SC), has been totally neglected in the polls at all levels from Corporation elections to local bodies, said Devananda, president of Scheduled Caste Bakuda Association, Karnataka (DK) to mediapersons here on Wednesday September 19.
 
The population of the community is around 13 to 15 thousand which is largely located in Attavara, Babugudda, Pandeshwar, Mangaladevi, Kodikal, Jeppu, Kavoor, Kulai, Panambur and other places. The members have been traditionally loyal to Congress while the party has totally neglected the community all these years , he informed.
 
Although Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) has a total of 60 seats, not a single candidate from the community has been ever given an opportunity to contest the elections.  Moreover, the community has been merely bestowed with promises without any significant progress, he added. 
 
The community leaders have met the Congress leaders Janardhan Poojary, Veerappa Moily, Blasius D'Souza, Ramanath Rai, Sadanand Poonja and U T Khader and urged them to give a chance to contest.
 
Further, all the pleas of community leaders made to Congress veterans have been in vain.  Janardhan Poojary has been largely responsible for the community to be deprived of its due opportunities and he has never appointed a single office-bearer from the downtrodden community.  This shows the neglect of the community by the party, he further said.