Congress candidate Tanveer Sait registered his fourth straight win from Narasimharaja, his bastion, despite a stiff challenge from K.H. Abdul Majid of the Social Democratic Party of India.
This time around, Mr. Sait emerged victorious amidst unprecedented political mudslinging. He was a Minister in the S.M. Krishna Cabinet and served as Kodagu district in-charge Minister for a brief period as well.
Mr. Sait contested from the constituency in 2002, 2004 and 2008. What is unique about his victory is that his father, the late Azeez Sait, had won from the constituency five times, after its creation in 1967.
Azeez Sait won from Narasimharaja for the first time as the Sanghata Socialist Party candidate in 1967. His party contested from 17 segments in the State and won in six. The Indian National Congress was the largest party at that time and it won 126 seats. In the 1972 elections, Azeez Sait joined Congress and won.
He also won the 1978 elections as a Congress nominee; but in 1983 identified himself with the Janata Party. He was defeated in 1985 by the Congress candidate Mukhtarunneesa Begum, and again in 1994 by E. Maruti Rao Pawar of the BJP in 1994.
Azeez Sait staged a comeback by registering victories in the 1989 and 1999 elections.
While Mr. Sait had not taken Mr. Majid’s presence lightly, he may not have expected such a contest. He received 38,307 votes to Mr. Majid’s 29,667.
