Udupi district has five Assembly constituencies — Udupi, Kaup, Kundapur, Baindur and Karkala. Though there are many local issues, it is mainly anti-incumbency that will play a major role in the elections.
A glimpse of this factor was evident in the recent urban local body polls, where the BJP lost its hold on the district considerably. Incidents of attacks on churches and mosques, questionable acts by elected representatives of the BJP and high-handedness of MLAs will make voters think twice before casting their votes.
Though star campaigners like Sonia Gandhi or Narendra Modi did not address their rallies in Udupi district, they made their presence felt in the neighbouring Dakshina Kannada. However, leaders like Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, KPCC President G Parameshwara, AICC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes and BJP National Secretary Varun Gandhi campaigned here.
In the previous elections, the BJP had won four of the five Assembly seats here, leaving just one to the Congress. At the fag end of their term, one of the BJP MLAs, Kundapura MLA Haladi Srinivas Shetty, was invited to Bangalore to take oath as a minister in Shettar’s cabinet but denied a ministerial berth. He resigned as the MLA and quit the party reducing the BJP’s Legislative strength in the district to only three.
Udupi
Pramod Madhwaraj of the Congress, who had lost the polls against sitting BJP MLA K Raghupathi Bhat, is in the fray for the third time, this time against BJP nominee B Sudhakar Shetty. Bhat was denied the ticket following his alleged involvement in a sex scandal. A decade of charitable activities here has made Pramod a favourite.
Karkala
It is a neck-to-neck fight between Congress MLA Gopal Bhandary and BJP’s Sunil Kumar in this constituency. Karkala, the constituency which had given rise to a chief minister (M Veerappa Moily), has been affected by ‘too much politics’ between the Congress and BJP in the last 10 years. It all started when Bhandary was defeated by Kumar in 2004. The Congress tried everything possible and got Bhandary elected again in 2008. As he was the only Congress MLA in the district, BJP has tried hard to corner Bhandary. Bhandary had been accusing the BJP of creating hurdles in development works here.
Kaup
As it was in favour of the Congress, Kaup was one of the tightly-fought constituencies for a ticket by aspirants in the party. Finally, AICC secretary and former Udupi MP Vinay Kumar Sorake managed to get the ticket with his influence on the high command. A humiliated Vasanth V Salian, former Congress MLA and minister, jumped to the JD(S) and may play spoilsport for Sorake. Abdul Hakim is contesting as an SDPI candidate, which has a considerable following among Muslims. The candidature of Salian and Hakim has brought cheer to BJP nominee MLA Lalaj R Mendon, who is now focusing on retaining the BJP’s traditional votes. A triangular fight is certain in Kaup.
Kundapur
Here again, there is a triangular fight among former MLA and independent candidate Haladi Srinivas Shetty, Congress nominee Malyadi Shivaram Shetty and BJP candidate Kishore Kumar. The BJP’s hold in the constituency has weakened with the exit of Haladi. Most representatives of the people at local and panchayat bodies are backing Haladi openly. It is a constituency with a majority of Bunts to which Haladi belongs. BJP’s Kumar, from the Mogaveera community, is a young face. Congressman Shivaram Shetty is banking on the split in BJP votes.
Baindur
A straight fight is imminent here between Congressman and former MLA Gopal Poojary and BJP’s B M Sukumar Shetty. MLA Poojary, is in direct touch with grassroots workers. Shetty, from the Bunt community, has a good support base.