JOIN USGoing by the trend, it appears BJP will sweep the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
BJP is leading in seven out of eight assembly constituencies in Dakshina Kannada and in all five assembly constituencies in Udupi district.
As very few rounds are left for counting and the win margin appears to be huge, the chances of the Congress increasing its tally is remote.
Except the Udupi assembly constituency, where the difference is less than 250 votes (Pramodh Madhwaraj -28483 and Raghupathi Bhat -28723), the difference is huge in the rest of the constituencies.
If the same situation remains, then BJP will create history as the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi were always considered as Congress bastions (except in 2004, when BJP won seven out of nine seats in DK and four out of six in Udupi).
In 2008, the Congress and BJP shared four seats each in DK and BJP bagged four out of five seats in Udupi.
In 2013, Congress bagged seven out of eight seats in DK and three out of five in Udupi district.
With the BJP likely to sweep coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, all the political calculations have gone wrong in the region, which many call a ‘Laboratory of Hindutva’.
DH News Service