Inadequate representation for Kodagu people in Lok Sabha

Madikeri (Kodagu): The people of Kodagu experience a disconnect whenever Lok Sabha poll is held as no major political party fields a candidate from their district.

Senior journalist S G Umesh, based in Madikeri, the district headquarters of Kodagu said that since the first Lok Sabha election in 1952, only N Somanna (1952) and Cheppudira Muthanna Poonacha (1967) from Kodagu were elected.

C State

President of Codava National Council N U Nachappa pointed out that even Lakshadweep, which has just over 55,189 voters (2019), sends a Lok Sabha member to the Parliament, but Kodagu which was a C State until 1956, with its distinct ethnic and cultural Kodava people, has no representation in the Parliament.

Umesh said the geography and culture of Kodagu is unique, but it is forced to be a minor partner of the Lok Sabha segments in the neghbourhood. Kodagu LS segment existed only in 1952. After the merger with the then Mysuru State in 1956, Kodagu became a part of Mangalore Lok Sabha constituency.

K R Achar (1957), Aaduru Shankar Alva (1962), C M Poonacha (1967), K K Shetty (1971), and Janardhan Poojary (1977, 1980, 1984 and 1989) of the Congress; and V Dhananjaya Kumar (1991, 1996, 1998, 1999) and D V Sadananda Gowda (2004) of the BJP represented the Mangalore segment.

Since the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in 2008, Kodagu became a part of Mysore-Kodagu LS segment and Adaguru H Vishwanath (2009) of the Congress and Prathap Simha (2014 and 2019) of the BJP have been Lok Sabha Members.

Demography

There are a total of 4.66 lakh voters (2024) in Kodagu district, under Madikeri and Virajpet Assembly segments, spread over 4,102 square km. Earlier, there were Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet taluks, now Kushalnagar and Ponnampet taluks have been added. However, the third Assembly segment of Somwarpet ceased to exist from 2008.

Umesh said prior to 2009, Kodagu was part of a coastal segment and now it is part of a maidan segment, just to fulfill the required number of voters for a Lok Sabha segment. Thus, the people of Kodagu missed an opportunity to table their problems and issues before the Parliament in a significant manner.

Possibility

Nachappa said as Kodagu merged with Karnataka, it lost an opportunity to have a representation in the Lok Sabha, because only administrative units like Union Territories and States get a chance even if the particular unit does not have the required number of voters.

“We have been demanding carving out of Codavaland, under Article 244, R/w 6th and 8th Schedule of the Constitution. The Supreme Court, in its judgment on the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, on December 11, 2023, stated that the Union government should carve Codavaland Geo-Political Autonomy on the lines of Ladakh and Leh Buddhist Autonomous Regions based on its economic feasibility. We will pursue it. If we become an administrative unit, we can have a separate LS constituency,” Nachappa said.

Manifesto

At least the Lok Sabha candidates like Yaduveer Krishnaraja Chamaraja Wadiyar and M Lakshmana should include ‘Codavaland’ in their manifesto, he said.

Umesh said the demand for an exclusive Kodagu LS segment is there since a long time and he hopes this issue is addressed in the delimitation scheduled for 2028, considering the uniqueness of the society here.