Karnataka   

Dissidence, rebels pose a problem for all parties

R.V. Deshpande

SIRSI: All the major parties — the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal(Secular), and the Samajwadi Party — in Uttara Kannada district are facing the problem of rebels, dissidents and independent candidates. The second of the Assembly elections will be held in the district on May 16.

BJP president Rajanath Singh, party leader L.K. Advani, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary Margret Alva, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumarswany, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, BJP Leader Hema Malini, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the former Chief Ministers S.M. Krishna and S. Bangarappa have already toured the district.

In Karwar Assembly Constituency, Anand Asnotikar of the Congress, Prasad Karwarkar of the BJP and Ganapati Ulvekar, an independent and Congress rebel, are the main contenders.

In Sirsi, Congress candidate Ravindranath Naik, though popular, faces independent and party rebel Shanmukh Gouda. BJP candidate Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri is confident of getting the Havyak community vote. The Samajwadi Party candidate, Bheemanna Naik, is banking on the support of Namadhari community. The Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, Magaraj Narvekar, and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, Ramanath Hegde, are in the arena.

In Haliyal, R.V. Deshpande of the Congress, who has never lost the seat since 1983, is likely to extend his winning streak. His rivals are Apparao Pujar of the BJP, Sunil Hegde of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Ajit Naik of the Samajwadi Party.

In Kumta, a Congress stronghold, Mohan Shetty, two-time MLA, is hoping for another term. But this time, Shashibhushan Hegde of the BJP and G.G. Hegde of the Samajwadi Party are giving a tough fight.

Yellapur is likely to witness a triangular contest. S.M. Hebbar, a BJP veteran contesting on Congress ticket, is facing Janata Dal (Secular) candidate Pramod Hegde and V.S. Patil of the BJP. The former Minister P.S. Jaiwant is the Samajwadi Party candidate.

In Bhatkal, Shivananda Naik of the BJP is confident of making it to the Legislative Assembly. The former MLA J.D. Naik of the Congress and Yashodhar Naik of the Samajwadi Party are likely to give him a tough fight. Mr. Naik is hoping for the crucial Muslim vote. But the Islamic organisations here have not declared their support so far.

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