Karnataka - Mangalore   

Bad performances in strongholds of Congress, BJP need retrospection

Karwar: The details of the booth-wise voting pattern released in Karwar Assembly Constituency throws light on the performances of the two major political parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress — during the byelections. The details were released by the Election Commission.

Contrary to expectations that the BJP would do better in urban area and the Congress would gain in rural areas, the voters thought otherwise.

Anand Asnotikar, Minister of Fisheries, Science and Technology, who was confident of winning the byelection by a margin of at least 30,000 votes, won only by a margin of 17,000 votes. Satish Sail, the Congress candidate who was confident of getting more votes in Ankola taluk, trailed behind the BJP candidate in most of the villages of Ankola taluk.

The interesting aspect of the voting pattern is that the Congress fared well in Karwar city limits. The BJP, which was expecting a bigger lead in the city limit got a lead of 2,342 votes over the Congress. The BJP has 27 councillors in Karwar City Municipal Council where as the Congress has just three members. The Congress could establish a clear lead in several BJP strongholds in the city.

Ajay Sawakar, member of the BJP State council said that the performance of the party in the Karwar city limit was not up to expectations. The party had expected a minimum lead of 15,000 votes because of the numerical strength of the BJP in the municipal council. He said in urban areas, voter turnout was less compared to the rural areas. The BJP voters might have opted not to vote, so the lead was marginal. Karwar urban witnessed 58 per cent polling while the average polling in the constituency was 67 per cent, he said.

The Congress suffered a big setback in Karwar rural which was its bastion. Ninety per cent of the gram panchayats were in the control of the party. The Chittakula zilla panchayat member Ramakrishna Naik of the Samajwadi Party joined the Congress a few days before the election. However, the Congress suffered a drubbing in all the three zilla panchayat areas of Karwar. Here, the BJP established a clear lead of 11,072 votes over the Congress. The worst part was that the Congress drew a blank in booth no. 1 of Lande village whereas the BJP polled 83 votes in that booth. Block Congress president Deepak Vaigankar said it was unexpected for the Congress. He said the party had thought it would do well in rural areas. It is time for the introspection for the Congress to find out why the party lost its rural votes despite its control of the majority of the local bodies, said Mr. Vaingankar.

Mr. Vaingankar did not agree that the development plank used by the BJP was the reason for the victory of its candidate. He said it had not worked because Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s government sanctioned crores of rupees for development work in Karwar city, but the Congress could get almost equal number of votes with that of the BJP in Karwar city. Most of the BJP leaders, including the Chief Minister, campaigned for the BJP in urban areas of Karwar and Ankola. But people in this area voted for the Congress, he said.

In Ankola, where the Congress expectation was high, the party suffered a setback. Though leaders like S. Bangarappa, who had considerable clout over the electorate in Ankola, campaigned for the Congress, the party trailed behind the BJP by a margin of 4,500 votes in the taluk.

In Belekeri area it was the BJP that established a clear lead.

The personal charisma of Mr. Asnotikar too, had contributed to the victory. Mr. Sail was new to politics and could only get 3,000 more votes than the previous election, when Mr. Asnotikar was the Congress candidate.

Mr. Sawakar said that it was time for both the Congress and the BJP to analyse the reason for their losses in their respective strongholds.

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