The Hindu : Congress faced with strong challenge from BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Congress faced with strong challenge from BJP

By R.S. Habbu

KARWAR, MARCH 22. The Congress, which won four of the six Assembly seats in Uttara Kannada district in the 1999 elections, is facing a formidable challenge from the BJP this time. The BJP has gained strength, particularly in Sirsi, Kumta and Bhatkal Assembly constituencies, with former Chief Minister, S. Bangarappa, joining it. Mr. Bangarappa has a strong following among the Namadhari community which dominates the three constituencies.

The leaders and workers of the district unit of the All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD) joining the Congress may not be of much consequence since the AIPJD had already lost ground much before the death of Ramakrishna Hegde.

The Congress has faced many ups and downs in Assembly elections in the district. The party made a clean sweep in 1957, 1962 and 1972, winning all the Assembly seats. In 1967, the erstwhile Praja Socialist Party (PSP) caused an upset for the Congress, which won only the Haliyal seat owing to the charisma of Ramakrishna Hegde, who contested on the Congress ticket. In 1978, the Congress won in Sirsi, Haliyal, Bhatkal and Kumta constituencies despite the Janata Party wave all over the country. The Janata Party won in Ankola and Sirsi. The 1983 elections again proved to be disastrous for the Congress. Its candidates were defeated in all constituencies, except Karwar and Ankola.

The 1983 elections also saw the emergence of the BJP as the third force after the Janata Party and the Congress in the district. The BJP registered its first victory in Kumta in 1989, with the Congress winning the five other Assembly seats. In 1994, the Congress lost all the six Assembly seats and also the Kanara Lok Sabha seat. While BJP candidates won in Ankola, Bhatkal and Kumta, the erstwhile Karnataka Congress Party (KCP) and the Janata Dal gained the Karwar and the Haliyal seats, respectively.

The political situation changed in the 1999 elections. The Janata Dal was in decline in the district. R.V. Deshpande, a staunch follower of Ramakrishna Hegde, deserted the Janata Dal (U) to join the Congress. All was not well in the BJP too, with internal bickering among the party leaders. As a result, the Congress won in four Assembly constituencies and the BJP took Sirsi and Ankola.

A constituency-wise analysis shows that the voters in the Karwar Assembly constituency more often than not supported the Congress. The party lost only in 1962, 1967 and 1994. Kumta also remains favourable to the Congress, which has won six of the ten elections held so far. As far as Haliyal constituency is concerned, the BJP and the Janata Dal (S) are yet to find a suitable candidate to challenge the supremacy of Mr. Deshpande, Minister for Large- and Medium-scale Industries. The highly literate electorate in Sirsi has elected Congress, Janata Dal and BJP candidates in that order in the last three elections.

Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri of the BJP won from Ankola in the previous two elections. Bhatkal had been a strong Congress base till the 1989 elections. However, in the 1994 elections, U. Chittaranjan of the BJP, who was a popular medical practitioner, won by a huge margin. Even in the byelection in 1996 caused by his murder, the BJP candidate, Shivanand Naik, was elected with a comfortable margin.

There are 9,05,109 voters in the district.

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