Campaign takes divine turn in Dakshina Kannada

Poll-time prayers

Congress-JD(S) candidate Mithun Rai seeks blessings of Jain seer Charukeerthi Bhattaraka at Moodbidri.

With just a fortnight left for polling, temple-run remains on the top of the priority list of candidates from the BJP and the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district.

Besides visiting temples, they have been making a beeline for mutts and religious institutions in order to seek blessings of religious heads, given their huge influence. Sitting MP and BJP candidate from DK Lok Sabha constituency Nalin Kumar Kateel visited temples in Moodbidri Assembly constituency during the day-long campaign on Wednesday.

He visited the Karinje temple and took blessings from Muktananda Swami. He also visted the Jain Basadi in Moodbidri and sought the blessings of Jain seer Charukeerthi Bhattaraka. Kateel also visited the Daregudde Vittala temple.

Congress-JD(S) candidate Mithun Rai visited the Hanuman temple, Mahalingeshwara temple in Moodbidri, Corpus Christi Church in Moodbidri and met Parish priest Rev Fr Paul Sequeira. He also visited Ponnacheri Temple, Holycross Church at Hosabettu in Moodbidri. In addition, he visited Jain mutt and sought the blessings of the seer. While the candidates are hopping from one temple to another, BJP MLAs and former MLAs of congress have been visiting houses and campaigning for their respective candidates.

Independent candidate Venkatesh Bende called on Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade and sought his blessings.

The first among the star campaigners for BJP, Tara Anuradha, launched her campaign from Mangaluru on Thursday. Among the other campaigners are Rajya Sabha member Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, MLA Suresh Kumar and MLC M B Bhanuprakash. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address a huge rally in Mangaluru on April 13, party sources said.