Lok Sabha election in the coastal districts is witnessing a piquant fight as coalition partner Janata Dal(S) which has been offered two out of three seats does not have even a single MLA in 24 assembly segments.
The other partner Congress, however, has five MLAs, one each in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and three in Uttara Kannada.
All the three Lok Sabha constituencies have remained the stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party for long now.
While the Janata Dal (S), which has been offered by the Congress the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and Uttara Kannada constituencies, has fielded Congress leader Pramod Madhwaraj on its ticket against BJP’s Shobha Karandlaje in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and Anand Asnotikar against BJP’s Anantkumar Hegde in Uttara Kannada that goes to the polls on April 23.
With poll campaigning largely revolving around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the intensity of the electoral fight depends upon candidates, according to Rajaram Tallur, senior journalist and political observer based in Udupi. All the three BJP MPs are facing anti-incumbency; yet they may sail through if the Opposition does not fight vigorously, he told The Hindu .
The choice of Mr. Madhwaraj [a former Congress Minister] in Udupi is not a surprising one as the Janata Dal(S) does not have a strong candidate even as its efforts to woo another former Minister K. Jayaprakash Hegde from the BJP turned futile, Mr. Tallur noted.
Mr. Jayaprakash Hegde won the 2012 Lok Sabha by-election as a Congress candidate. Yet, Mr. Madhwaraj may not offer a tough fight as he is almost disconnected from the party, Mr. Tallur said.
Though anti-incumbency was said to be strong against MPs Nalin Kumar Kateel, Ms. Karandlaje and Mr. Anantkumar Hegde, the BJP has renominated them. The entry of Youth Congress leader Mithun Rai as Congress candidate in Dakshina Kannada has intensified the otherwise dull electoral battle in this constituency.
Other than the performance of the Union government, major issues that concern the electorate include infrastructure development such as roads and Railways, said B.K. Imtiyaz, Dakshina Kannada district president of DYFI. Despite the region sending political stalwarts to Parliament, they have failed to augment railway connectivity unlike in neighbouring Kerala. A training academy of central armed forces in the region would have improved employment generation. Communal polarisation from both the sides is a continuing process and SDPI’s announcement to contest in Dakshina Kannada seat this time would only amplify the divide, Mr. Imtiyaz said.
