MANGALORE: With the reservation chart in place for all five taluk panchayats in Dakshina Kannada district, the parties have started mobilising their machinery to face the elections although the Election Commission is yet to notify the same.

Dakshina Kannada district has Sullia, Puttur, Buntwal, Mangalore and Belthangady taluks. While Mangalore taluk is mostly urban, Puttur and Buntwal are predominantly agrarian taluks. Sullia and Belthangady have a concentration of tribal people.

According to the Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee president, Blasius M. D'Souza, the Congress is in power in all taluk panchayats and the party is not sparing any effort.

Since some groups belonging to different parties have challenged the reservation pattern followed by the Government in the High Court, there is uncertainty about elections. He expressed satisfaction over the poll preparedness of the party in the taluk panchayat elections.

D.V. Sadananda Gowda (Bharatiya Janata Party), Mangalore MP, said his party did not have much stake in the last taluk panchayats in the district but that has made the party cadres more determined to win taluk panchayat elections.

Sullia Taluk Panchayat has the least number of 13 constituencies in the district. Bellare, Panja, Guthigaru, Ivarnadu, Aletti and Balila have been reserved for women in various categories while Enmooru, Nellooru Kemraje, Jalsooru and Aranthodu have been reserved for general category. Rest of the constituencies have been shared by other categories.

Mangalore with 37 constituencies is the largest taluk panchayat in the district. Stretches from Shirthadi in Moodbidri (border of Udupi district Karakala taluk to Talapady — border of Mangalore taluk and Kasargod district in Kerala State).

Bajpe and Malavoor are considered prestigious constituencies. Thokur has become an industrial area and Bala is under industrialised area while Ganjimath is all set to receive Export Promotion Industrial Park, which might have information technology giants such as Satyam and Wipro bidding for land. The reservation charts show that Kateel, the temple town in Mangalore Taluk Panchayat, has come under general category along with Bajpe, Malavoor and Ganjimath. In less than 10 years, all these constituencies may have to be declared urban areas and brought under Mangalore City Corporation.

Buntwal has 33 constituencies that are part of agricultural belt. But most of the constituencies are small and Rayi has 12 villages while Chennaithodi has 14 villages. Belthangady is a tribal area with the pilgrim centre of Dharmasthala being part of it. Neriya, which is one of the border areas in Chikmagalur, is the smallest constituency in the taluk. This taluk has 24 constituencies.

Puttur Taluk Panchayat has 22 constituencies stretching from Kodimbadi to Koukradi and the recently formed zilla panchayat constituency Nelyadi, an agricultural village.

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