Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Feb 15: The electorate of both the wards of Ullal municipality which went to bypoll on Sunday February 12 have decisively given their thumbs up for Congress candidates. Both Chembugudde and Kallapu wards elected Congress candidates, who defeated their BJP rivals with an impressive margin.
Basil D'Souza of the Congress, who had fought from Chembugudde ward, registered a thumping victory by polling 600 votes. Satish Chembugudde fielded by BJP could muster only 149 votes. In this constituency, Harish Shetty, a CPM candidate, got only 78 votes, with Kalandar, an independent, getting 57.
Usman Kallapu, candidate fielded by Congress in Kallapu ward secured 510 votes as against 226 got by BJP candidate, Chandrahas Pandithouse. Ismail Shaffi of JD(S) could get only 29 votes. Independent candidate, Dinakar Ullal, came out with brilliant performance here, with total votes of 240.
The bypoll was necessitated after the two municipal councillors elected earlier were disqualified.
Ullal, which was town municipality then, had faced election in 2013. In that election, Congress had bagged 17 seats, while BJP had got seven seats. Independents had wrested two seats, while SDPI had got one seat.
Defeated candidates from Chembugudde and Kallapu wards, Anil Das and Dinakar Ullal respectively, had approached the court, seeking disqualification of these two elected councillors, as they had failed to provide details of criminal cases they were facing in the affidavits executed by them when filing nomination papers. The court had upheld these objections in 2015 and disqualified both of them. The court had also ordered for holding elections afresh in these two constituencies.
Soon after the results were declared, Congress party workers took out a victory procession.