Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Dec 21: On Monday December 20, the last day for filing of nominations for the upcoming zilla panchayat (ZP) and taluk panchayat (TP) elections in the state, a deluge of nominations was witnessed in both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. In Dakshina Kannada, a total of 215 nominations stand filed for the zilla panchayat election, while 575 candidates have filed nominations for the taluk panchayat elections. In Udupi district, the nominations received for zilla panchayat stand at 124, with a total of 391 candidates willing to try their luck at the hustings. Taluk-wise figures of nominations received are as follows:

Dakshina Kannada:  Zilla panchayat : Total seats – 35. Nominations received – 215 (Mangalore – 60 for ten seats, Puttur – 41 for six seats, Sullia – 26 for four seats, Beltangady – 30 for six seats, and Bantwal – 48 for nine seats). Out of the 215 candidates, 58 candidates represent the Congress, 64 are from the BJP, 34 are from JDS, three from CPM, 17 from SDPI, 1 from BSP and 38 independents.

For 37 TP seats in Mangalore taluk, 173 nominations (Congress – 42, BJP – 58, JDS – 32, CPI – 1, CPM – 7, SDPI – 14, Independents – 19) have been received in total. In Puttur taluk, 106 candidates are vying with each other for 22 posts (Congress – 39, BJP – 37, JDS – 13, SDPI – 10, Independents – 7). 53 nominations have been filed for 13 seats of Sullia taluk panchayat (Congress – 19, BJP – 13, JDS – 12, SDPI – 7, Independents – 2). In Beltangady taluk, a total of 112 nominations were received for 24 taluk panchayat seats (Congress – 40, BJP – 33, JDS – 19, CPM – 7, Independents – 13). In Bantwal taluks, 129 nominations were filed for 33 seats.

In Udupi taluk, 46 nominations have been received for 11 ZP seats, while 133 nominations were filed for 41 TP seats. In Karkala taluk, 28 nominations were filed for five ZP seats, while 74 nominations were received for 19 TP seats. In Kundapur taluk, 50 nominations were received for nine ZP seats, while 225 nominations have been received for 35 TP seats.

In some places including B C Road, traffic block was witnessed, as candidates supported by huge number of their supporters, came to file their nomination papers on Monday December 20 in large numbers. The fact that the Congress party released its list of candidates on Monday morning, added to the chaos.

Nearly 90% of the nominations were filed on the last day, as the political parties were busy with permutations and combinations because of changed reservation policy, need to allot 50% of the seats to women candidates, non-filing of nominations on Friday and Saturday because of Bharani Kruttika, and the inability to field several veteran leaders from strategic constituencies because of changed reservations. The officials were very busy on Monday, receiving the nomination papers, while several aspirants who did not find a place in the final list, were seen busily consulting their supporters, about their future steps including possible revolt against their respective parties.