Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (KR)

Udupi, Feb 24: With the assembly elections round the corner, the ruling BJP is making utmost efforts to retain its glory in the coastal districts. In the 2018 assembly elections, BJP had created history by winning all the five seats in the Udupi district.

Visits of national leaders have been planned for Udupi district. The BJP national president J P Nadda was the first national-level leader of the party to visit Udupi a few days back. He addressed a gathering of around 15,000 booth level committee members in Udupi on February 20, and thereafter a public gathering in Byndoor assembly constituency.

As per the current trend and the BJP’s internal report, the party is likely to retain only two seats in the coming elections and this has created tension among the leaders of the party and efforts are being put to lure the voters into voting for the party again. The local leaders are hence inviting national-level leaders to visit the district and it is expected that in the coming days more national leaders and fire brand speakers are likely to address rallies in Udupi and other places for the BJP candidates.

It is being widely speculated in party circles that the BJP high command is considering fielding Kiran Kodgi as the party’s nominee for Kundapur or Byndoor constituency. If Kodgi succeeds in getting the nod from the party to contest the polls, the constituency is likely to see a new face. Udupi constituency may also see a new face as a former one-time MLA and a minister has emerged as a frontrunner to get the party ticket as he is making all efforts to reach out to all the high-level leaders and the RSS.

As far as Karkala is concerned, it is a ‘guru-shishya’ fight for the moment. Pramod Mutalik’s likely entry into the electoral fray from Karkala has made it uneasy for the BJP in the constituency. After this announcement, differences of opinion have erupted even among the Sri Ram Sene members. Congress party workers are also trying hard to bring back Muniyal Udaykumar Shetty who is currently seen as a neutral candidate to contest the seat. While, the Congress party workers are putting in their full efforts to bring back a former MP who left the party and want him to contest the polls from the constituency, former chief minister Veerappa Moily is also eager to wrest the seat from the BJP.

Byndoor and Kaup are likely to be easy for the Congress if the sitting MLAs are given the party tickets. There is also high competition among nearly a dozen of aspirants from BJP including the Udupi district BJP president Kuilady Suresh Nayak, Yashpal Survarna, Gurme Suresh Shetty and others, who have shown their inclination to contest the Kaup assembly constituency on a BJP ticket. In the Congress, former MLA Vinay Kumar Sorake from Kaup and Gopal Bhandary from Byndoor are likely to be announced as the party’s nominees in the first list of party candidates as there are not many aspirants in both the constituencies. In Byndoor, Gopal Poojary alone is the Congress aspirant for a ticket. Speculations are rife that a new face might get the ticket from the BJP.

Currently in Kundapur, Halady Srinivas Shetty is the sitting MLA and if this time if he gets the ticket, it is likely to be a one-sided fight as there is no strong presence of Congress in the taluk for the last 10 years. But there is a co-operative fight among the Congress aspirants in Kundapur. Meanwhile, Kishan Hegde Kolkebail is trying to get the party ticket to contest from Congress while another top name with a stronghold over the co-operative society in the coastal district is also trying his best to get the party ticket to his referred candidate.

Frequent visits of national-level leaders of the BJP are being planned. It would not be surprising if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath visit Udupi during the election season. Whereas Congress has relied upon its state-level leadership to undertake the campaign. Udupi district people might get a chance to vote for a new face in all the five constituencies if the calculations from high command differ from that of the local leadership.

In all the five constituency, JD(S), AAP and SDPI may not give much fight in this election, so it can be a fight between two national parties in the district.

Only the coming days will tell who will get the ticket and be in the final race for the 2023 elections.