Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency: Regional divide is wide and clear

Udupi: The Udupi Chikkamagluru Lok Sabha constituency is now torn between the two parties, regions, and caste factors. The election is just around the corner, but the parties cannot handle this wide array of divisions, signalling a close fight between the Congress and the BJP.

Whoever married these two regions into one during the delimitation process in 2008 had not perceived the aftereffects politically, socially, and demographically, point out the political leaders. The region is first divided into coastal and Malnad areas. Four assembly segments fall under the coastal category, namely Kapu, Udupi, Karkala, and Kundapura, The four assembly segments -Sringeri, Mudigere, Tarikere, and Chikkamgaluru belong to the hilly areas (Malnad) that have different and diverse cultures, livelihood patterns, religious beliefs, and political dispensation.

District heads of both Congress and BJP in these two districts (Udupi and Chikkamgalur) The Congress party leaders, including the block presidents of the four taluks, feel that their party must have given the ticket to contest in the constituency to a leader from Chikkamgaluru district. There were two contenders Dr. Amshumanth Gowda, DCC president, and Sandeep Kumar, AICC secretary, who is from Chikkamgaluru district.

But the party has given the ticket to K Jayaprakash Hegde, the septuagenarian leader and once MP from the same constituency. “The divide is clear, particularly after the 2023 assembly elections in Chikkamgaluru district. The Congress party won all five seats in the Chikkamgaluru district -Tarikere, Chikkamgaluru, Sringeri, Kadur, and Mudigere while it lost all the seats in Udupi district- Kapu, Udupi, Byndoor, Karkala and Kundapur to BJP.

Here, the party high command has chosen to give the ticket to a contestant from the losing district and denied the ticket to the winning district. Does not make sense!” a district-level office bearer on conditions of anonymity. Secondly, Jayaprakash Hegde is not a loyalist of the Congress party, he came to the Congress party from Janata Dal, later, remained independent and joined the BJP to become the MP of Udupi-Chikkamgaluru seat and returned to Congress just before the 2024 elections and got a ticket immediately. “This does not go well with the morale of the Congress party cadres in Chikkamagaluru district, part of the constituency. Chances are, the cadres in the fit of demoralisation may cause an anti-party situation towards the end of the campaign,” the leader said.

While the BJP is not far from a similar situation for a different reason, The party has fielded Kota Srinivas Poojary, who is not known for his presence in Chikkamagaluru segments of the constituency.

“His community is going to work against him in the Chikkamagaluru part, Poojary belongs to the Billava community, and the community is called Eedigas in the Chikkamagaluru district.

Srinivas Poojary might have easy access to Billava community votes in the coastal assembly segments, but mopping up Eediga votes is much tougher in the Chikkamgaluru part. There are not many in these parts,” say BJP strategists.

Since there is a clear divide between Billava (Eediga) and Bunt (Vokkaliga) votes in both parts of the constituency, The divide may not be visible till the last few days before the polling, but in this keenly contested constituency it is now the OBCs and Micro OBCs, minorities and SC/ST communities that are going to decide the fate of the candidates, say the leaders. But come to think of it the BJP has a great advantage over the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is an unassailable factor.