Independent candidate put up stiffer fight than expected: Ashok Kumar Rai

Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai who was declared elected as the MLA of Puttur on May 13, Saturday, said Independent candidate Arun Kumar Puthila had put up a stiffer competition than what he had expected.

Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai who was declared elected as the MLA of Puttur on May 13, Saturday, said Independent candidate Arun Kumar Puthila had put up a stiffer competition than what he had expected.

Mr. Rai told The Hindu at the counting centre in NITK-Surathkal that he had considered the BJP’s Asha Thimmappa as the main opponent and hoped to pull out victory by a margin of about 25000 votes considering Mr. Puthila’s presence in the fray. The victory margin of 4149 votes, that too against Mr. Puthila was something unexpected, he said.

Failure of the BJP on the developmental front has led to its defeat, Mr. Rai said and added he would work along with other MLAs of the district, including the Congress’ MLA U.T. Khader.

Mr. Puthila’s close associate Krishna Prasad said 62458 votes polled by the former was close to the expectations. Contesting as per Karyakartas’ desire for the cause of Hindutva, the votes polled show the power of Hindutva. The BJP now should rethink and bring changes in the organisational structure in Puttur, he said.

Ms. Thimmappa said the Party lost despite best efforts by the Karyakartas. “We failed to read voters’ mind,” she said adding the developmental works of the central and state government did not catch voters’ attention. Votes polled by Mr. Puthila were that of the BJP, she said.

Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja of the BJP said he could beat the anti-incumbency with the development works across the constituency and defeat Rakshith Shivaram of the Congress with a comfortable margin. The credit should go to the Karyakartas, he added.

Getting elected for the fifth consecutive time, Mangaluru MLA U.T. Khader of the Congress said this time’s victory against Sathish Kumpala of the BJP by a margin of 22790 votes was far easier to his earlier victories. He would continue with the development works and strive towards maintaining peace in the region.