Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP) 

Kasargod, Sep 30: The BJP has at last announced the name of its candidate for the by-poll from Manjeshwar constituency here. The saffron party has decided to field Ravish Tantry Kuntaru, who had earlier fought from Kasargod, as its candidate. 

The by-poll is being held on October 21. There will be a triangular contest again. Monday happens to be the last date for filing of nomination. 

United Democratic Front has decided to field M C Qamaruddin from this constituency while M Shankar Rai is the candidate of Left Democratic Front. BJP had considered names of zilla panchayat member, K Srikanth and K Satishchandra Bhandary but after lot of discussions, settled in favour of Ravish.

Left Democratic Front has fielded Shankar Rai, a local. Both the left front and BJP have fielded linguistic minority candidates as their votes are crucial in deciding the fate of candidates. 

Ravish Tantry had been fielded as BJP candidate from Kasargod constituency in 2016 but he was defeated by a margin over 8,000 votes. In the Lok Sabha election during May this year, he had been fielded but he was relegated to the third spot. In Manjeshwar constituency, the BJP candidate, K Surendran, was defeated by a slender margin last time. Surendran this time has refused to enter the fray and hence BJP was finding it hard to find a suitable candidate. 

It is said that selection of Ravish Tantry as party candidate has not gone well with the BJP workers. Reportedly, BJP workers from Kumble and Manjeshwar committees have said that they would not work for the success of Tantry. During the heated discussions the party workers had with secretary, L Ganesh, inside a hall where a meeting was held by closing the doors on this issue, Asianet TV staff members were trying to record the proceedings on video through the window. It is said that a crowd of BJP workers attacked the Asianet TV photographer and damaged his camera. Manjeshwar Press Club and workers union Kasargod district have condemned the incident.