from daijiworld's political correspondent (MB)
Mangalore, May 19: Two candidates, Ismail Shafi and Mohammed Ashfaq, withdrew their nominations for the by-election to be held on June 2 for the Ullal assembly constituency on Friday, which was the last day for withdrawals.
That leaves U T Khader of Congress, Chandrahas Uchil of the BJP, J Balakrishna Shetty of CPI(Marxist) and independent Bharat Raj Shetty in the final fray at the hustings.
Sunset at Summer Sands beach resort
Alvida, 'Ullal' !
Incidentally, this is the last time an election is being held for the 'Ullal' constituency. Henceforth, with the reorganization of constituencies, both assembly and Lok Sabha, the Ullal territory will be shared among the adjacent constituencies and a larger constituency called 'Mangalore South' will come into existence.
Rani Abbakka circle in Ullal
The current Ullal constituency comprises of twelve gram panchayats, Ullal municipal area and nine wards of the Mangalore city corporation.
Sayyid Mohammed Shariful Dargah
(Pics courtesy Ullal TMC)
The famed dargah of Sayyid Mohammed Shariful Madani, the centuries-old Shri Somanatheshwar temple which is believed to have been visited by Queen Abbakka regularly, the Summer Sands beach resort and other spots of tourist interest come within the jurisdiction of the constituency.
Woman Power
The total number of voters in the constituency is 161,070 out of which 79,703 are men and 81,367 are women. The constituency has a Muslim concentration.
Ironically, Ullal, which is historically known as the capital of the famed Queen Abbakka who fought braveley against the incursions of the Portuguese invaders from Goa, and in spite of having women voters in majority, does not have a woman candidate.
Voting will take place in 140 polling booths.
All Eyes on Ullal: