Coast, Malnad is still strong with BJP

Mangaluru: The traditional BJP bastions of Karnataka -Coast and Malnad stand steadfastly with the BJP. Capt. Brijesh Chowta, Kota Srinivas Poojary, BY Raghavendra, and Vishveshwar Hegade Kageri have won from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, and Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha Constituencies, respectively, with convincing margins.

The largest margin among these new Members of Parliament is that of Vishveshwar Hegade Kageri of Uttara Kannada at 337448. He defeated Anjali Nimbalkar of the Congress Party. Kageri polled 782598 votes against 445067 by Nimbalkar, which is the largest margin of victory in the state by all candidates of all parties. Kageri had been MLA for three terms and is entering the Lok Sabha for the first time. “It is the party discipline in Uttara Kannada in particular and the coast and Malnad in general that this region has been getting the support of the cadres, the RSS and other wings of the BJP” said the former state BJP Chief Nalin Kumar Kateel. Kateel was also the Kerala state in-charge of the BJP for the 2024 campaign.

Both Chowta and Poojary have also won with large margins. Poojary has won with a margin of 259517 votes which is the second highest in the state followed by Capt. Chowta with 140208 which is more or less on lines of the rest of the constituencies. Both Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada constituencies have also belied the caste equations. In Dakshina Kannada, the Congress party had drummed up the Billava versus Bunt equation, while in Udupi Chikkamgaluru it was the Billava versus Vokkaliga equation. Going by the margins of these three constituencies, the party affiliations have worked.

The major communities like Billava, Bunts, Mogaveeras, OBCs and Micro OBCs have broken their moulds and have voted for the BJP and Congress candidates without any strings attached say the regional psephologists. “The voting pattern in the entire state also reflects the same narrative, going by the candidates and their parties,” said a senior BJP leader who had strategised the BJP campaign in the coastal region.

A senior RSS leader Pratapsimha Nayak who had felt the pulse of the voters in the coastal and Malnad areas had concluded even before the elections, the coast and Malnad region, where voters are calculative and intelligent and vote after analysing the country’s interest.