Electoral greenhorns from BJP, Congress lock horns in Dakshina Kannada

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency will witness two new faces — Capt Brijesh Chowta, an ex-serviceman from BJP and advocate Padmaraj R from Congress— battling it out from the two major parties. Both candidates are new to electoral politics.

To overcome discontent, the BJP sought to introduce a new face in the constituency, instead of incumbent MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. Kateel, who has served as MP from here for three terms.

The party had followed the same strategy in 2004 by fielding D V Sadananda Gowda, when there was discontent against the then MP Dhananjay Kumar (1991 to 2004). In 2009, the party fielded Kateel, instead of Gowda.

More recently, the discontent against Kateel, formerly the state BJP president, came to the fore after the party’s Yuva Morcha leader Praveen Nettaru was murdered in July 2022. Party workers came out in the open to express displeasure.

This dissatisfaction increased during the 2023 Assembly elections in Puttur as Hindutva leader Arun Kumar Puthila was denied a ticket. This led to Puthila contesting as a rebel candidate, pushing BJP candidate Asha Thimmappa Gowda to the third position in the election.

The murder of Nettaru, who belonged to Billava community, also dented image of the party. Since then, BJP has tried to win community’s confidence.

Nominating a person from Billava community as party’s district president was seen as a move towards this.

Chowta, from Bunts’ community, has been associated with RSS from a young age. After retiring from the Army, he worked with the RSS in various capacities. In 2013, he entered politics and was appointed BJP Yuva Morcha district general secretary.

Later, he became DK BJP general secretary between 2016 and 2019 and served as party's executive member.

Meanwhile, Padmaraj’s selection by Congress is perceived as a strategic move, aimed at garnering Billava votes. In the past, Janardhan Poojary, a Billava leader, had won 4 times from here. Considered as his ardent follower, Padmaraj was not directly involved in party till recently.

He was an aspirant for Mangalore City South constituency ticket in 2023 Assembly elections. The ticket was denied since he was not even a party member then. He was appointed KPCC general secretary after he joined party.

With campaigning in full swing, BJP leaders are banking on Hindutva plank. BJP leaders, including incumbent MP Kateel, have claimed that the party would win with a margin of 3 lakh votes. In 2019, margin was 2.74 lakh.

DK Congress President Harish Kumar said the party would win with a margin of 50,000-70,000 votes.

Brijesh Chowta said Hindutva is his commitment and development will be his priority. Padmaraj said if he is elected, his priority will be to restore the tradition of communal harmony in the district.