Kota Srinivas Poojari | Photo Credit: File Photo
With the Congress on Thursday deciding to field former Minister K. Jayaprakash Hegde as its candidate for the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, the battleground has been set between Mr. Hegde and Kota Srinivas Poojari of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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The 1952-born Korgi Jayaprakash Hegde had represented the erstwhile Brahmavara Assembly constituency thrice (1994-2008) and was the Minister for Fisheries and Ports. He was instrumental in the formation of the Udupi district in 1997 when J.H. Patel was the Chief Minister.
While he was in the undivided Janata Dal during the 1994 Assembly polls, he won as an Independent candidate in the two subsequent elections in 1999 and 2004. With the Brahmavara constituency disappearing from the 2008 general elections due to constituency delimitation exercise, Mr. Hegde lost his home turf.
He joined the Congress thereafter and contested the 2009 LS polls from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency. Mr. Hegde lost to D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP by 27,018 votes. However, he gained the constituency in 2012 when Mr. Gowda vacated the seat to become the Chief Minister and got elected with a margin of 45,724 votes against V. Sunil Kumar of the BJP in the 2012 by elections. However, he lost to Shobha Karandlaje of the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by a margin of 1,81,643 votes. Differences of opinion within the Congress made him to quit the party and join the BJP in 2015.
Having waited for nine years in the BJP for a suitable position and after handling a two-year stint as the Chairperson of the Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes Commission, Mr. Hegde was back in the Congress. A graduate professional in law and an advocate, Mr. Hegde has said he was not a follower of any leader; but would seek votes on his personal capacity. Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency has several issues to be sorted out and he would make every effort to get them addressed if elected as the MP, he said.