Pics: Prajwal Ukkuda
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, May 16: The recent political 'Betting' was hugely tilted in favour of the old horse of the Congress Party, Janardhan Poojary, as he was the favourite to win the Lok Sabha election, as per the calculations of the gamblers. But there was surprise in store for everyone, when the Lok Sabha result for Dakshina Kannada constituency was declared today. A totally new face, 42-year-old Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP candidate, is set to enter the Lok Sabha for the first time.
Jubilation was apparent among the BJP workers all over the constituency, as the party candidate Nalin maintained a steady lead of over 30,000 for several rounds. At the end, it was a sweet victory for Nalin, who was declared the winner by a margin of over 40,000 votes.
For the BJP think tank however, the victory was not at all surprising, as one of senior workers speaking to daijiworld said, "When we heard that Mangalore constituency registered record number of polling this time, we thought it augured well for Nailin, whose victory was cemented due to the huge voter turn out. Puttur and Sullia assembly constituencies, where the voting was over 80%, went in favour of the BJP".
"But our grass root level work was superior to that of the Congress, as Congress candidate was mostly concentrating on pleasing the minority to get their votes. This went against the Congress, and we worked hard at the base level. They are not easy votes, we have worked very hard for them," says a relaxed Nalin Kumar after the victory.
Nalin Kumar has thanked everyone who cast his or her vote for him, and assured them that he will work for the betterment of the constituency.
On the other hand, it is a setback for Poojary, as he loses Lok Sabha seat for the third time from Mangalore in his political career. In all probability, veteran Poojary who has an army of admirers in the constituency will never be fighting another Lok Sabha election.