The second list of 82 candidates released by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held no surprises for Udupi district as only the candidate for the Byndoor Assembly Constituency was announced on Monday. However, suspense continued on who would get the party’s nod for the prestigious Udupi Assembly Constituency and the Kaup Assembly Constituency.
The party has given ticket to B.M. Sukumar Shetty for the Byndoor Assembly Constituency. This was more on the expected lines as Mr. Shetty was the frontrunner, having contested from the same constituency in the 2013 Assembly elections. But he was defeated by K. Gopal Poojary of the Congress by a margin of 13,149 votes. The Congress has once again fielded Mr. Poojary.
However, the suspense on whom the BJP fields from the prestigious Udupi Assembly Constituency continues. The entry of Lakshmivara Tirtha Swami of Shiroor Mutt into the electoral fray from Udupi has made it an interesting battle. The Congress had already announced that Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, will be its candidate.
The aspirants for the BJP ticket include K. Raghupati Bhat, former BJP MLA, Nayana Ganesh, Udaykumar Shetty, Yashpal Suvarna, Baikady Suprasad Shetty, BJP leaders. The names of Kota Srinivas Poojary, MLC, and K. Jayaprakash Hegde, former MP, are also doing the rounds.
The Shiroor seer had last week said that he was still expecting ticket from the BJP and that he would contest as an independent candidate from Udupi should the party refuse to field him.
In the case of Kaup Assembly Constituency also, the Congress had given ticket to the sitting MLA and former Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, who had defeated the BJP candidate and two-term MLA Lalaji Mendon, by a margin of 1,855 votes in the 2013 Assembly elections.
The aspirants for the BJP ticket in Kaup Constituency are Mr. Lalaji Mendon, the former MLA Gurme Suresh Shetty, Yashpal Suvarna, Kuilady Suresh Nayak, Sheela K. Shetty, Gitanjali Suvarna, K. Shankar Poojary, BJP leaders.
