Daya Nayak to Contest Udupi Parliamentary Seat on Congress Ticket ?
By Special Political Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (CN)
Udupi,Feb 12: Popularly known as 'encounter specialist', Daya Nayak, the dynamic former police officer from Mumbai is in the news again, making political ripples this time around.
With the Election Commission (EC) hinting at the possibility of parliamentary elections in April-May 2009, heavy lobbying is on for tickets to the seats in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi amongst all the political parties involved. Furious political activities have been witnessed over the past few days in the region.
The BJP made the first move by announcing the party's state president, Sadananda Gowda, current MP from Mangalore constituency, as its candidate for Udupi. Gowda is thought to have chosen Udupi this time for he believes he has better odds of winning here than in Mangalore.
However, the Congress, is yet to learn from past mistakes and its senior leaders are separately engaged in lobbying. It is shocking to see the Congress trio of Poojary-Moily-Sorake fighting for Mangalore. The Congress feels that Mangalore will be easier to win than Udupi!
Highly reliable sources have informed Daijiworld this evening that Daya Nayak, born in Ennehole, Karkala, has been invited by the Congress to contest from Udupi.
In the last assembly elections there had been speculation that the former cop would make his entry into the political arena. Daijiworld has also learnt that though he has been cleared in all cases in Mumbai he has still not reported for duty.
When Daijiworld contacted Nayak to confirm the news, he neither denied nor confirmed the news. "It is always my desire to serve my own place within my capacity, whether it is politics or by any other means, but I have a strong desire to serve my place", he said. When asked which political party he would prefer to join, he only said "Congress is a good party".
Daijiworld has also learnt that if the Congress fields Nayak as its candidate, then the JD(S) may support his candidature and not field anyone.
On the other hand, there are other names from the Congress also doing the rounds for the Udupi parliamentary seat. In the event of Nayak's refusal, Mogaveera community leader and entrepenuer G Shankar might be considered. Though Pramod Madhwaraj, who lost the last assembly elections to Raghupathy Bhat, has retired from active politics for personal reasons, his name is also in the running.
“Anything can happen in politics. There is every possibility that Madhwaraj will return to active politics again because he is very young and his mother Manorama just returned to her home party-Congress", said a Congress activist to Daijiworld.
From the JD(S), there is only one name for the Mangalore or Udupi constituency—party loyalist Amarnath Shetty. If the Congress and JD(S) become allies, then the situation will be different and there will be a seat sharing process.
The next few days will be very crucial for the political parties seeking to shortlist their candidates for the parliamentary elections.
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