Karnataka's Coast gets its due in Modi's 2.0 rejig

UDUPI: In the first rejig of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2.0 cabinet, the Coastal part of the state, has got its due with the elevation of firebrand leader Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje making her debut as Union Minister on Wednesday. She is the lone woman MP to make it to the Union cabinet from Karnataka state.
Though the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have been Saffron bastions since long and gave much needed boost to BJP’s fortunes, there was feeling among the leaders and party workers that the region did not get its due share of power after Modi came to power. Now that lacuna has been addressed in the reshuffle.
D V Sadananda Gowda, resigned as the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers on Wednesday, hours before the reshuffle in the Union cabinet. Though he hails from Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada district and held several portfolios in Modi’s cabinet, the region always felt he was an outsider as he represented Bengaluru North Constituency for two consecutive terms.
With the elevation of Shobha, the Vokkaliga community to whom the MP belongs, a dominant community in the region which has supported BJP to the hilt will feel that their feelings have been assuaged.
Shobha’s ascendancy after she was first made a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council in 2004 has been remarkable. After being elected as an MLA from Yeswanthpur in May 2008, she was praised for her handling of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj portfolio in the B S Yeddyurappa government. Her performance as power minister in the Jagadish Shettar ministry in 2010 was also noteworthy.
She had won the last two general elections from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru with a thumping majority, with the second win being one of the biggest. She had defeated Pramod Madhwaraj of the JD(S)–Congress by a massive margin of 3,49,599 votes.