In the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be confident of victory, a party leader, who had lost the previous election to the incumbent, is now making an all-out and open bid for the ticket, spicing up the poll pitch.
This constituency comprises four Assembly constituencies spread across Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts. It is witnessing an intra-party contest before the actual contest.
Pramod Madhwaraj had lost to incumbent Shobha Karandlaje in the 2019 general elections while contesting as a Congress candidate. He later left the party to join the BJP in May 2022. Now, he is making efforts to secure the party ticket for the coming election.
A minister in the first term of the Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka (2013-18), Mr. Madhwaraj had contested on a JD(S) ticket in the 2019 polls following a seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the regional party. He polled 3,69,2317 votes against Ms. Karandlaje’s 7,17,916 votes, losing by a margin of 3,49,599 votes. Ms. Karandlaje had improved her victory margin from 1,81,643 against K. Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress in the 2014 general elections.
Two kinds of campaigns
The constituency is witnessing two kinds of campaigns, with Mr. Madhwaraj directly staking claim to the ticket and the other being “Shobha Go Back” campaign, ostensibly with his backing. Interestingly, she faced a similar “Shobha Go Back” campaign during the 2019 general elections too, with many dubbing her “unapproachable”.
On the other hand, several fishermen leaders held a press conference in Mangaluru recently urging the BJP to field Mr. Madhwaraj, as he is an educated leader, can converse in English and Hindi, and can represent the entire fisherfolk community in the Lok Sabha. A few days later, a few of the leaders openly questioned Ms. Karandlaje for her alleged failure in responding to constituents’ aspirations at a review meeting in Udupi. The video of this confrontation had gone viral.
In parallel, a few BJP leaders organised a campaign in Chikkamagaluru wherein hundreds of postcards were mailed to BJP president J.P. Nadda urging the party not to renominate Ms. Karandlaje.
Ms. Karandlaje faces allegations of being “unapproachable” by the public, party workers as well as RSS volunteers. Her supporters counter it by claiming that she has got several development works executed, but “does not know how to get publicity”.
Historical backdrop
Udupi Lok Sabha constituency had been a Congress bastion till 1996 with late Oscar Fernandes winning five general elections from 1980 to 1996. I.M. Jayaram Shetty of the BJP won the seat in 1998. Vinay Kumar Sorake of the Congress won the seat in 1999 only to lose to the late Manorama Madhwaraj, then in BJP, in 2004.
Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency too had been a Congress stronghold till 1996 when B.L. Shankar of the Janata Dal won the seat. From 1998 to 2004, late D.C. Srikantappa of the BJP held sway.
After delimitation of the constituencies as Udupi-Chikkamagaluru in 2009, the seat was won by D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP. When Mr. Gowda was chosen to take over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a by-election ensued, and was won by K. Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress. In 2014, Ms. Karandlaje defeated Mr. Hegde, and retained the seat in 2019.
