The Hindu : Karnataka News : It is between Congress and BJP in Kundapur

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Others

It is between Congress and BJP in Kundapur

By Ganesh Prabhu

KUNDAPUR (UDUPI DISTRICT), APRIL 19. The Kundapur Assembly Constituency has some of the famous temples in Udupi district such as the Kundeshwar Temple in Kundapur, the Annegudde Siddhivinayaka Temple at Kumbashi, the Ganapati Temple at Hattiangady and others.

Kundapur is also the centre for tile industry, which of late, is under crisis. Kundapur is the largest taluk in Udupi district.

There are 1,57,921 voters in the Assembly constituency. Women (80,476) voters outnumber men (77,495).

According to an estimate, the Bunts dominate among the communities in the constituency followed closely by Billavas. Mogaveera and minority communities occupy the third and fourth slots, respectively.

Kundapur was a bastion of the Congress until it fell to the BJP in the 1999 elections.

The Congress leader, Pratapchandra Shetty, represented Kundapur for 18 years before he was defeated in the 1999 elections by the BJP leader, Halady Srinivas Shetty, by a margin of 1,021 votes.

Mr. Srinivas Shetty polled 48,051 votes, while Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty had to remain contented with 47,030 votes.

Mr. Pratapchandra Shetty was elected to the Legislative Council from the local bodies constituency in 2003.

He was also appointed as the Vice-President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

Mr. Srinivas Shetty has consolidated his hold over the constituency by taking up various development works such as construction of bridges at Huttikudru and Muchuttu, for which there was demand for decades.

He has also been instrumental in construction of roads under various schemes.

He has always been in touch with his constituents and has worked for them irrespective of their party affiliations.

This is likely to hold him in good stead. He is also a non-controversial candidate.

Knowing that it faces a tough challenge in Kundapur, the Congress has fielded the former President of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat, Ashok Kumar Hegde.

A former teacher, Mr. Hegde is a grassroots politician. As the President of the Zilla Panchayat, Mr. Hegde became popular for his anti-corruption crusade.

He was the one who exposed the Zilla Panchayat Engineering Division scam and pursued it during his tenure.

He has a clean image and is known for his ability to get development works done.

Some communal incidents had taken place in this constituency a couple of years ago, which were checked in time. Which way the minority votes would go remains to be seen.

The Communist Party of India (M) has fielded K. Shankar, while the Kannada Nadu has given its ticket to Syed Abbas. An independent candidate, Suresh K. Poojary, is also trying his luck.

But it will be a close contest between the Congress and BJP in this constituency.

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