Mangaluru City North: Bava’s campaign against Congress for denial of ticket failed to appeal to voters
The Hindu
The vociferous campaign by former Congress MLA B. A. Mohiuddin Bava over the Congress denying him ticket to contest from Mangaluru City North constituency did not work as he lost the election as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate in the same constituency.
The vociferous campaign by former Congress MLA B.A. Mohiuddin Bava over the Congress denying him ticket to contest from Mangaluru City North constituency did not work as he lost the election as the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate in the same constituency.
Mr. Bava secured 5,256 votes, as against the victorious incumbent MLA Y. Bharath Shetty, who secured 1,03,531 votes. The Congress candidate Inayath Ali secured 70,609 votes. The margin of 32,922 votes between BJP and Congress is the highest among the victorious candidates in Dakshina Kannada.
Mr. Bava, who has contested thrice from Congress and won in 2013, was among the contenders for the Congress party ticket for the fourth time. Mr. Ali, a contractor and a NSUI office-bearer, was also eyeing a ticket. Claiming that the party’s internal surveys favoured him, Mr. Bava reportedly tried to influence All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge through Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda for the Congress ticket. Mr. Bava’s brother B.M. Farooq, an MLC, is the working president of Janata Dal (Secular).
When he failed to get the Congress ticket, Mr. Bava filed a nomination as JD(S) candidate. He carried out campaign accusing Congress State Chief D.K. Shivakumar of taking money from Mr. Ali for Congress party ticket. Mr. Bava eyed sympathy votes.
This triangular contest led to Dr. Shetty getting 4,883 votes more than 98,648 votes he had secured in 2018 Assembly elections. The 1.03 lakh votes that Dr. Shetty received was 57.15% of 1,81,169 polled votes. These votes were 41.5% of the total electorate of 2,49,464 in 2023. Dr. Shetty had secured 98,648 votes in 2018, which was 56.02% of 1,76,104 polled votes and 42% of 2,34,856 electorate.
The 70,609 votes secured by Congress’s Inayath Ali was 1,039 votes less than 71,648 votes that Mr. Bava had secured as Congress candidate in 2018. None from JD(S) contested from the constituency in 2018 elections.
The All-India level NEET examination was started a few years ago to counter complaints of corruption during the joint entrance examinations held at the State level. AIDSO had warned the authorities that the solution to the menace of corruption was not changing the examination system, but to investigate the corruption and punish the guilty.