Mangaluru: The coastal districts may be the bastion of the BJP, but one constituency here has evaded it for years. Curiously, the saffron party has never won any assembly election from Moodabidri although it has won several times from constituencies like Belthangady, Puttur, Sullia and Mangaluru City South.
Giving it the thumbs down, Moodabidri has always gone either with the JDS or the Congress. Aware of its leanings, the BJP has hardly contested from it either. It was only in 1989 that it fielded a candidate for the first time from the constituency. Its hopes, however, rose when in 2008, its candidate, Jagadish Adhikari came runner- up in the election, losing by a margin of a mere 9903 votes. The margin decreased further in 2013 when the BJP's Umananth Kotian lost by a narrow margin of 4,550 votes.
So this time the party is hoping the tide will turn entirely in its favour and it will win for the first time from Moodabidri. “Moodabidri was a stronghold of the Janata Dal because of Amarnath Shetty. The Congress too has won here several times. But the BJP did not have much of a backing in the constituency and its the only one in DK from where we have never won. However our base has strengthened in the constituency over the last decade and we are sure we will win this election,” said BJP spokesperson, Monappa Bhandary, speaking to Deccan Chronicle.
With Mr Amarnath Shetty of the JD(S) staying away, the contest is this time directly between the Congress and BJP, he points out.
“On the one hand we have become strong and on the other there is dissidence within the Congress here,” he notes.
