Looking past the pristine beaches and evergreen forests of the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency, you see the major issues faced by its people — sand mining and sea erosion; distress of arecanut growers; fear of eviction among tribal communities in the Kudremukh National Park; incomplete expansion of National Highway 66 and public anger against toll plazas on it; and the tension over Bababudangiri/Datta Peetha, where Hindutva outfits have been demanding the construction of a temple at the site that is also sacred to Muslims.
These issues may turn what could have been a smooth ride for Shobha Karandlaje, the BJP’s incumbent candidate, into a bumpier journey to victory.
Ms. Karandlaje, who faced ‘Go back Shobha’ calls on social media before her re-nomination, also has to deal with factionalism within the party. A section of BJP workers are against her and sought the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru ticket for K. Jayaprakash Hegde, who joined the BJP after leaving the Congress, pointing to Ms. Karandlaje’s “absenteeism from the constituency” as the reason for it. She is perceived to visit her constituency infrequently. In fact, the Congress has made her absenteeism a major poll issue.
Her opponent, Congress leader and former Minister Pramod Madhwaraj, also faces intra-party friction. His nomination, which is unprecedented since he is a Congress hand fighting under the JD(S) symbol, has not gone down well with a section of Congress leaders, and one of them, Amrit Shenoy, is contesting as an Independent candidate. This unusual situation has the blessings of both the coalition partners, and the two parties are working together in the constituency. Mr. Madhwaraj, who has termed the arrangement a mixture “of milk and honey”, sports a shawl with symbols of both the Congress and the JD(S), to communicate unity to workers from both parties.
The BJP is banking on the Congress ceding the seat to the JD(S) working against the coalition candidate, as the former is stronger in the constituency formed by the merger of the erstwhile Udupi and Chikkamagaluru constituencies after delimitation. Since the JD(S) has little or no presence in Udupi district, Mr. Madhwaraj has the onerous task of popularising its symbol in the constituency. Of the eight Assembly segments in the constituency, only one is with the Congress, the rest are with the BJP.
In his campaigns, Mr. Madhwaraj is targeting the BJP and the Union government for not tracing the fishing boat from Malpe, which went missing with seven fishermen onboard off the coast of Goa on December 15, last year.
However, Ms. Karandlaje is backed by former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and the Sangh Parivar, which is likely to work in her favour. The BJP is also relying heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose popularity continues unabatedin the coastal belt. In fact, a senior BJP leader here said that they [local leaders] were seeking votes in the name of Mr. Modi.
“Whatever differences we may have, our leaders and workers work like soldiers to ensure the candidate’s victory,” said Mattar Ratnakar Hegde, president of BJP Udupi district unit.
The moot question is whether the BJP, with the strength of its cadre and reliance on Mr. Modi, will succeed in convincing voters, or will the coalition partners, with their new-found bonhomie and targeted campaigning, make the mark.
