MANGALURU: Minister B Ramanath Rai, who represented Bantwal constituency for six terms, was defeated by BJP candidate U Rajesh Naik.
After the final round of counting, Naik, who contested against Rai for the second time consecutively, bagged 97,802 votes. Meanwhile, Rai could bag 81,831 votes. Naik’s victory margin is 15,971.
Other candidates in the constituency Balakrishna Poojary of Lad bagged 713 votes, Shameer of MEP bagged 760 votes and independent candidate Ibrahim Kailar secured 503 votes. NOTA got 946 votes.
Rai, who has won from Bantwal for six terms since 1985, had lost only once in 2004 against BJP leader B Nagaraj Shetty. The 65-year-old Rai, who is popularly known among his fans as ‘Baby Anna’, had bagged 81,665 votes against Naik in 2013. Naik had lost the 2013 election by securing 63,815 votes.
In 1985, Rai had won from the constituency by bagging 26,344 votes against 18,328 votes secured by BJP candidate N Shivarao. In 1989, Rai had won from the constituency by bagging 32,939 votes against BJP candidate H Narayana Rai who secured 16,995 votes. In 1994 Rai bagged 34,027 votes against BJP candidate Shakunthala T Shetty, who secured 29,734 votes. In 1999, Rai bagged 49,905 votes to defeat Shakunthala Shetty who secured 36,084 votes. However, in 2004, Rai suffered setback after BJP candidate B Nagaraj Shetty defeated him by bagging 54,860 votes. Rai lost the seat by bagging only 48,934 votes against Shetty. In the 2008 election, Rai retained the seat by defeating Nagaraj Shetty. While Rai bagged 61,560 votes, Shetty could secure 60,309 votes then.
The constituency was in the news for wrong reasons in the past due to communal clashes and political mud-slinging. Meanwhile, the controversial government order that cancelled mid-day meal grant from Kollur Temple to schools run by RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat too was an election issue.
U Rajesh Naik