Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, May 22: Shobha Karandlaje is all set to win the Lok Sabha election from Udupi-Chikkamangaluru constituency for the second time with a margin of one lac votes over JD(S)-Congress coalition candidate Pramod Madhwaraj.

By 12.30 pm, Shobha Karandlaje secured over 2,22,159 votes as against 1,11,092 votes secured by Madhwaraj.

With this, Shobha is all set to record her second straight thumping victory this time. She had defeated K Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress in 2014 with a margin of 1.81 lac votes.

Independent candidate Amrith Shenoy, who quit Congress just before elections, garnered over 2,511 votes by 12.30 pm.

Speaking to reporters, Shobha said that chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, and former chief minister Siddarmaaiah, who had dismissed the exit polls as wild speculations, have been proved utterly wrong and they have been washed away in Modi tsunami.

"Over 50 percent counting is almost over. BJP in general is leading by an average of 1.25 lac in most of the constituencies. We are sure to win Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamgaluru constituencies with a comfortable margin. We expected to win 23 or more Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka," she said.

Shobha thanked the people and the party workers for her victory. She dubbed the current Karnataka government as anti-government, adding that the two parties governing the state got a fitting lesson for their maladministration and unholy alliance. She also predicted constituencies like Mandya to slip out of the coalition's hands, and BJP to win in Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, and Kolar constituencies where Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, H D Devegowda and Muniyappa will bite the dust. .

Saying that the count down for the state government's exit has begun, she said that the people have given the verdict that Mahagathbandhan has no place here.

Shobha said that her party will not deal with Congress/JD(S) legislators as long as they are a part of the government and that the party leaders can talk to them only if they come out of the coalition. 

It may be recalled that there was a campaign from BJP leaders and activists asking Shobha to go back as the local leaders felt that they are deprived of a chance to fight the election in spite of sincerely working for the party for many years, because of Shobha, whom they treat as rank outsider. They also said that Shobha never visited her constituency, there were no achievements on which the party could bank on, and that she was seen only during the election time.

In spite of the setbacks, the party stood its ground and granted ticket to Shobha. The gamble of the party has paid off.

The constituency was represented by D V Sadananda Gowda who had defeated Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress by 27,000 votes. However, Jayaprakash Hegde had fought the bypoll in 2012, necessitated by the resignation of Sadananda Gowda who became chief minister of Karnataka and then elected as MLC. Hegde won against BJP's Sunil Kumar V by a margin of 47,000 votes.

Shobha Karandlaje, who was an active Hindu activist, has served BJP in various organizational capacities. She had represented Yeshwantpur assembly constituency, Bengaluru, and had functioned as minister for rural development and panchayat raj and also energy department in B S Yeddyurappa's cabinet. She had joined Yeddyurappa when he deserted BJP and formed his own Karnataka Janata Party, which later merged into BJP.

Udupi constituency had been in the grip of Congress party for long with stalwarts like T A Pai and Oscar Fernandes winning from the constituency multiple times. With the sustained efforts of the late V S Acharya, the saffron party gained popularity gradually. The reorganization of the constituency by adding Chikkamagaluru also seems to have accelerated key changes witnessed in the voting pattern. Former MP from this constituency, Jayaprakash Hegde, is now with the BJP. There was information that former minister and current JD(S) candidate, Pramod Madhwaraj, had also evinced interest in joining this party but his entry was blocked because of strong opposition from local leaders, particularly curent MLA, K Raghupati Bhat.