UDUPI: According to expectations, former State Fisheries Minister Pramod Madhwaraj has defected to the saffron camp, quitting Congress party where he was once considered a powerful leader. The switch would not have been difficult for Pramod as he has time and again admired the policies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government in the past.
In Udupi district Congress unit, he was feeling ‘suffocated’, he said, which is not without merit. For a long time now, Pramod had been distancing himself from the Congress party affairs. Even State level leaders from that party met him at his residence on the outskirts of the city, while Pramod did not visit the district Congress party office for a long time.
As the State is gearing up for the Assembly elections in about 11 months, BJP appears to be ahead in its preparations in the district. The district unit of the BJP, as per direction from State unit, had submitted its opinion about his inclusion into BJP.
Sources said that the district BJP unit considered Pramod an undisputable leader from the influential Mogaveera community. So his inclusion without any preconditions shall be an advantage for the party.
Pramod’s defection will surely have an impact on the Congress party's performance in the district. There appears to be no leader of his stature in Congress. Vocal against Pramod's defection is former MLA UR Sabhapathi, who said that Pramod lacks trustworthiness wherever he goes. Pramod has an illustrious political family background.
His father Malpe Madhwaraj became an MLA from Udupi in 1962. His mother Manorama was Women and Child Welfare Department Minister in 1974. She shifted to BJP and became an MP from Udupi Lok Sabha constituency in 2004.
Pramod was active in politics from a young age. He was in the NSUI, the state Youth Congress wing, and led the Udupi block Congress. Now people are curiously waiting to see how he will shape his political career in a new party.