UDUPI : A Modi wave has washed away the Congress in Udupi district in these assembly elections. BJP candidates won in all five constituencies in the district by getting a generous number of votes. This is first time in history, that the Congress lost all five seats in an assembly election.
Even though the district administration imposed Section 144 of the IPC (unlawful assembly) in the district and banned any victory processions or bursting of crackers, activists have not adhered to it. Superintendent of police Laxman Nimbargi warned activists to remain in their limits, but they did not seem to be in a mood to obey any rules and regulations. BJP members poured curd and milk on cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leader Halady Srinivas Shetty at counting centres after the results were announced.
Kaup Congress candidate Vinay Kumar Sorake entered the counting centre first on Tuesday, followed by the BJP’s Lalaji Mendon and Congress candidate Rakesh Malli from Kundapura. When it was almost certain that Malli is losing, he left the counting centre, however Sorake stayed till the end. He refused to speak to the media. When he was about to leave, BJP members shouted Modi slogans.
Sunil Kumar of Karkala, Halady of Kundapura, Sukumar of Byndoor and Ragupathi Bhat of Udupi visited the counting centre when they were almost winning.
Whenever Ragupathi Bhat has stood for an election, he has always won. This is his third victory as MLA. He won elections in 2004, 2008 and 2018. He did not contest in 2013, as a scandalous video of him went viral. He was also elected in the CMC elections once. Lalaji Mendon is winning with a big difference of 11,736 votes for the first time. For Haladi and Sunil Kumar it was clear victory.
Congress district president Janardhan Thonse said we accept the opinion of the public, while speaking about the loss. “The Congress gave transparent development and pro-public government in the last five years, yet the people failed us. We will analyze the reason for our loss soon, and act accordingly.”
