Mangaluru : The BJP which denied the party ticket to five of its MLAs, of whom three are seniors, in the coastal belt has continued to send the message that the party is supreme than an individual and it thrived on its organisational strength.

The MLAs who were denied the ticket, S. Angara, Minister for Fisheries, Ports and Inland Water Transport, had won from Sullia (reserved for Scheduled Castes) consecutively for six times. K. Raghupathi Bhat (Udupi) and Lalaji R. Mendon (Kaup) were three-time MLAs. Sanjeeva Matandoor, first-time MLA from Puttur, was also a former president of
Dakshina Kannada unit of the party. B.M. Sukumara Shetty was a first-time MLA from Byndoor. He contested the 2013 polls from the BJP unsuccessfully.

The total 19 Assembly seats in the three coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada, the BJP had won 16 seats in the last Assembly elections leaving three to the Congress. It snatched one more seat (Yellapura) from the Congress in the 2019 by-election increasing its tally to 17 seats.

The BJP denying ticket to its senior MLAs, leaders to prove that grassroots workers are its strength is not a new development during elections in the belt. A case in point is the 2018 elections where it changed its two senior leaders and got freshers elected. The party changed its four-time MLA (and six-time contestant) N. Yogish Bhat in Mangaluru City South and got a fresher D. Vedavyasa Kamath elected instead. In Mangaluru City North it changed its two-time MLA and Minister J. Krishna Palemar (third time contestant) and fielded fresher Y. Bharat Shetty, a dentist, who got elected.

the BJP said that the MLAs in Sullia, Puttur and Kaup were changed mainly due to anti-incumbency factors in those constituencies. A senior party leader told that an internal survey of the party revealed that the party will lose those seats if the incumbent MLAs were fielded again.

There was social media campaign particularly against Sullia and Puttur MLAs and there was a
public opinion against them that they were non-performers. Mr.Bhat, a Brahmin, in Udupi was changed due to caste equations as A. Kiran Kumar Kodgi, a Brahmin and a close confidant of five-time Kundapur MLA
Halady Srinivas Shetty was fielded from Kundapur after Mr. Shetty (whogot elected four times from BJP and once as an Independent) announced that he will not contest this time. </p><p>Sources said that Mr. Shetty was in favour of fielding Mr. Kodgi to replace him. Hence the “Bunts quota” from Kundapur was shifted to Kaup to field a fresher Gurme Suresh Shetty. The “Mogaveera or fishermen quota” from Kaup where it had been fielding Mr. Mendon, a Mogavera, since 1994 was shifted to Udupi to field a fresher Yashpal Suvarna also from the Mogaveera community.

The BJP had fielded a Bunt candidate from Udupi in 2013 and had lost it then. Sources said that Mr. Suvarna as a member of the College Development Committee of the Government Pre University College for Girls, Udupi had strongly opposed Muslim girls in the college wearing headscarf to the classrooms and was at forefront of opposing it.

The BJP has considered him as the youth leader and a face of Hindutva as well as of the party in Udupi. Mr. Suvarna is the national general secretary of the BJP’s OBC Morcha. He has maintained good relation with Asta Mutts in Udupi by actively taking lead in organising “Paryaya” festival processions and celebrations. </p><p>In Puttur, Mr. Matandoor, from Gowda community, was replaced by a woman candidate Asha Thimmappa Gowda,a former president of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat. Mr. Angara was replaced also by a woman candidate Bhagirathi Murulya, a former member of the zilla panchayat.</p><p>While selecting the candidates the party did it without overcoming the caste barriers while it ensured that the preference for major castes in the belt continued like in other parts of the State.