Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Apr 15: With just a few hours to go for BJP’s announcement of its second list of candidates for the Karnataka polls, the name of Mahesh Vikarm Hegde, co-founder and editor of Postcard News, as one of the ticket aspirants is making rounds.
According to sources, Mahesh Hegde has expressed his intention to contest as a BJP candidate from the Moodbidri constituency.
Hegde who was arrested on charges of spreading fake news by the central crime branch, Bengaluru on March 28, was released just a couple of days ago.
Hailing from Moodbidri, Hegde's rise as an aspirant comes close to the controversy generated by his website, Postcard News. He has close to a lakh followers on Twitter and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of them.
The BJP which has failed to secure even a single term from Moodbidri in the last four decades, now seems to be placing its bets on Hegde.
With the growing factionalism within the Congress incumbent MLA Abayachandra, MLC Ivan D'Souza and Congress youth leader Mithun Rai, who are vying to contest on the party ticket from the same constituency, the moment seems to be opportune for the BJP to take a strike at the Congress bastion.
"Hegde's chances of winning as a BJP candidate are stronger. Hence, the Congress government is hell bent to see him behind the bars," a source says.
He further adds that Hegde’s arrest was 'coordinated'. He was arrested on March 28, just before four continuous holidays, so that he could not be produced before the court. When the high court stayed the CCB’s proceeding and Hegde was given bail, he was again arrested in relation to another case by the Karwar police. "The Congress government in fact wanted to see to it that he is behind bars until elections," a person close to Hegde said.
"There is no doubt that his arrest is politically motivated with the state government’s hand in it," he adds.
The arrest of Mahesh Hegde was heavily condemned by BJP leaders, including union minister Anantkumar Hegde.
"It is up to the party high command to select the candidates. However, if Hegde is chosen from Moodbidri, we are sure that people will support him," says the source.
BJP district general secretary Umanath Kotian who contested from Moodbidri constituency as a BJP candidate in 2013 assembly polls, hopes to get a ticket even this time. Speaking to daijiworld, he confirmed that he is an aspirant but said it was ultimately the decision of the party high command regarding who would be awarded the ticket.
The 2013 assembly elections saw altogether 1,28,808 people cast their polls from Moodbidri constituency. Kotian lost to Abayachandra Jain at 3.54 per cent margin. While INC received 41.29 percent vote, BJP got 37.75 percent in the constituency in 2013.
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