Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Mar 25: As the state is gearing up for the legislative assembly elections, the leaders of political parties are busy in choosing the candidates to win the majority of constituencies.
In Dakshina Kannada, the Mangaluru South constituency is one of the prominent constituencies and it is the cynosure for all the political parties. According to sources, the BJP has no plans to change the candidate in Mangaluru South. Vedavyas Kamath is likely to continue as the BJP candidate from Mangaluru South. However, the party is yet to reveal the list of candidates.
There is tough competition in the Congress for tickets. Many aspirants are making attempts to obtain B-Form from the party. It is also said that the aspirants are lobbying to obtain B-Form from the party. Though there are many aspirants for the Mangaluru South constituency, former MLA J R Lobo and Ivan D'Souza are the prominent aspirants for the tickets to contest from Mangaluru South.
According to sources, the grand old party is planning to win the majority of seats in the district and grab the power from the BJP to end polarisation politics. Hence, most of the party leaders are planning to field advocate Padmaraj R.
Padmaraj R hails from the Billava community. Moreover, he has a wide network in the district and support from youth because of his social work. His Gurubelandingalu Trust has reached the needy. He has a good image in the society. Even in his community, there is an expectation to field Padmaraj.
Votes of Christians, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, Billawas and Bunts are the deciding factor in the Mangaluru South constituency. The Congress party must woo the Hindu voters in big numbers to win the constituency. According to political experts, to end BJP's polarisation politics, the Congress needs to field a Hindu candidate in Mangaluru South.
Moreover, the Aam Aadmi Party (APP) has launched an aggressive campaign to win the Mangaluru South constituency. AAP’s Santhosh Kamath will fight the elections from Mangaluru South.
It may be recalled, J R Lobo had won the election by defeating N Yogish Bhat in 2013. Totally, the people are expecting change in the constituency.