Karnataka polls: Billavas see red as Bunts get lion’s share of party tickets

Bunts have once again emerged as the most politically powerful community in the undivided Dakshina Kannada with major political parties giving a big share of their tickets to the community members.

MANGALURU:Bunts have once again emerged as the most politically powerful community in the undivided Dakshina Kannada with major political parties giving a big share of their tickets to the community members.

BJP appears to be banking on this community this time around – a move which is seen as an attempt to break the consolidation of community votes behind Congress, mainly because of District Minister B Ramanath Rai. The saffron party has allocated 50 per cent of the tickets to Bunts out of 12 seats that are open for the general category in both the districts. Though Congress has just three nominees from the Bunt community, it is no less compared to any other community.

A FB campaign by Billavas against BJP" />

Billavas, who stand first in terms of population in the undivided DK, appear to have got a raw deal. While Congress has given tickets to three Billavas, BJP has gone for just two. Both the parties have given a ticket each to Mogaveeras (fishermen community). Apart from this, Congress has given two tickets to Muslims, and one each to Christian, Jain and Bhandary communities. The BJP has given tickets to two Brahmins and one to Gowda community.

Billava Association has expressed serious displeasure over the ticket distribution. In fact, the community has launched a Facebook campaign to teach a fitting lesson to BJP for allegedly neglecting them. It says that the BJP has given tickets to Bunts in constituencies where Billavas are in majority such as Mangaluru, Mangaluru (North), Belthangady and Bantwal.

In a release, association president M Vedakumar said all parties have neglected the community in DK and Udupi. “Based on the community’s population, both the parties should have given at least two seats to the community in each district. Political parties use Billavas to build parties but are not ready to give tickets,” he said.

Sadananda Poojary, a Billava community leader, said Billavas who belong to a backward community have been meted out injustice by both the BJP and the Congress. He said in a day or two, the community leaders will hold a meeting and decide on fielding Billavas as independents in Assembly segments where the community people are more in numbers.

Who got how many seats?

Congress  
Bunts3
Billavas 3
Muslims 2
Mogaveera 1
Christians 1
Jain1
Bhandary 1

BJP  
Bunts6
Billavas 2
Mogaveera 1
Brahmin2
Gowda 1