Karnataka - Mangalore   

Moodbidri’s rare distinction

MANGALORE: Will Moodbidri, a constituency that has been in existence since 1972, elect a candidate whose party will form the Government again? This question arises because the constituency has done so in all the previous elections, although it could be a matter of coincidence each time.

In 1972 and 1978, Damodar Mulky of the Congress won the elections and on both the occasions Devaraj Urs formed the party governments, although during his second innings, he was removed and R. Gundu Rao was installed as Chief Minister.

Then Mr. Amaranath Shetty of the erstwhile Janata Party won the elections in 1983 and 1985, when Ramakrishna Hegde formed the Government on both the occasions. Internal bickering in the party led to early elections. In 1989, the constituency returned K. Somappa Suvarna of the Congress. That was when Veerendra Patil became the first person from North Karnataka to hold the State’s highest office. But he was “unceremoniously” removed when he had suffered a paralytic stroke and S. Bangarappa was installed as Chief Minister.

Then Prime Minister the late Rajiv Gandhi famously told reporters in Bangalore HAL airport, “you will have a new Chief Minister in four days.”

Later, M. Veerappa Moily was made the Chief Minister. Mr. Moily is the Chairman of the second Central Administrative Commission. Mr. Shetty won as a Janata Dal candidate in 1994 and the party leader H.D. Deve Gowda formed the Ministry. When he became the Prime Minister, J.H. Patel of the party took over the mantle of the State.

In 1999, K. Abhayachandra Jain of the Congress won the elections in Moodbidri and S.M. Krishna formed the Government.

Mr. Krishna opted for early elections to the Legislative Assembly when Lok Sabha elections were held in 2004 and the party was humbled but Mr. Jain had retained his seat in Moodbidri. As luck would have it, the Congress, although second largest party, formed the Government in alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) and N. Dharam Singh became the Chief Minister.

Thus, the constituency kept its date with the Government formation. Although early this year, a party that did not win in Moodbidri – the BJP – formed the Government, it lasted only for a few days and the party leader B.S. Yediyurappa had to seek dissolution of the Assembly.

The 20-month H.D. Kumaraswamy Government proved the only exception to the Moodbidri’s spin with formation of Government.

Three-time MLA from the constituency Amarnath Shetty has contested all the elections since 1972. He is now pitted against K.P. Jagadish Adhikari of the BJP and Mr. Jain of the Congress.

Women voters outnumber men and are politically more conscious too. Seventy three per cent of the women voters (58,232 of 81,345) exercised their franchise on May 16 as against 71.5 per cent men (52,299 of 71,604).

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