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BJP attempts to storm Congress citadel

The Bharatiya Janata Party's deep forays into the coastal belt of Karnataka in the last election could pose a problem for Congress stalwart Oscar Fernandes, who is trying to retain the Udupi seat for the sixth time.

While the BJP won two of the three coastal constituencies -- Mangalore and Kanara -- Fernandes, who has represented Udupi in Parliament since 1980, retained the seat by a narrow margin in the 1996 election.

The stakes are high for both Fernandes and I M Jayaram Shetty of the BJP, who lost to him by just 2,454 votes the last time. Shetty represents Byndoor in the state assembly.

Though Fernandes is confident of returning to the Lok Sabha for a sixth term, his declining vote percentage and the tremendous pressure being exerted by the BJP will no doubt cause him concern.

Fernandes, who won the seat for the first time in 1980 by securing 61 per cent of the vote, improved it to 62 per cent in the next election. However, his popularity saw a progressive decline in subsequent elections, with the voting percentage dropping to 53.55 (1989), 47.92 (1991) and 37.36 per cent in the last election.

Udupi has elected a non-Congress representative -- J M Lobo of the Swatantra Party -- only once in 1967.

The BJP was way ahead of the other parties in gearing up its electioneering machinery. The Congress jumped into the fray much later, only after Fernandes's name was cleared by the party high command. While the BJP's star campaigner is Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, the Congress has been flaunting Sonia Gandhi, who is expected to address a meeting on February 10.

Shetty, who seems confident about capturing the seat, said the BJP had done the groundwork even before the election was announced.

Fernandes feels his performance in the constituency should hold him in good stead. Stressing that his achievements included the completion of the Konkan Railway and the Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals projects, he said party workers were making special efforts to win over voters in those assembly segements where the Congress suffered a setback in the 1996 election.

Fernandes got a boost when U R Sabapathy, a trusted lieutenant of former chief minister S Bangarappa, remained in the Congress even after his mentor quit the party. However, he does not have the support of state Youth Congress joint secretary Pramod Madhwaraj, a prominent leader of the Mogaveera (fishermen) community. Madhwaraj has not been playing an active role in the campaign. According to observers, this might cast a shadow on Fernandes's chances.

Apart from national issues, local and evironmental issues being highlighted included protection of environment by opposing mega projects coming up in the region, job opportunities for the unemployed youth, linking of rivers in the district and better irrigation facilties.

Other candidates in the fray include M Ratnakar Hegde of the Janata Dal, Dayanand Poojary (Karnataka Vikasa Party), Richard D'Souza of the Samata Party and two independents.

As many as 192 of the 1,375 polling booths in the constituency have been declared hypersensitive. Its assembly segments include Kaup, Udupi, Brahmavar, Kundapur and Byndoor in the newly carved Udupi district and Suratkal, Moodabidre and Bantwal in the Dakshina Kanara district. Women voters (519,186) outnumber men in the constituency, which has an electorate of 997,347 voters.

UNI

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