UDUPI: Former BJP MLA of Udupi K Raghupathi Bhat expressed his ire after he missed the party ticket to contest from the South West Graduates’ constituency to be elected as an MLC. He took to X to express his anguish and posted that the ticket went to a candidate from Shivamogga. On his X handle, @RaghupathiBhat, he stated, ‘This decision by the BJP has ended a forty-year old tradition, failing to honour the expectations of the educated voters in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagalur and Kodagu, as no tickets were distributed for the teacher’s constituency in the coastal region.”
He stated, “Since 1994, I have served diligently in various capacities within the BJP, as an active worker and also as an office bearer. I have stood as a candidate for the Assembly and secured victory thrice. However, during the last assembly polls, I was replaced without prior notice, and learnt of my replacement through a TV announcement. Despite this, I remained committed to the party. At that time, senior party members assured me of the opportunity to contest in the upcoming graduates’ constituency elections. In preparation, I led vigorous graduate membership campaigns... Yet, with the recent MLC ticket distribution, one must ask who will address the injustice inflicted by the BJP’s break from tradition, which overlooked the coastal region’s teacher’s constituency for four decades.”