MANGALURU: BJP and Congress candidates will file nominations for the Dakshina Kannada Local Authorities constituency of the Karnataka Council on October 3.
The voting will be held on October 21, with counting on October 24
While the BJP declared Kishore Kumar Puttur as its candidate on Tuesday, Congress on Wednesday evening decided to field Raju Poojary. Both candidates are scheduled to file nominations on Thursday.
Kishore Kumar Puttur is a close associate of BJP state president BY Vijayendra. The party had decided to give an opportunity to a community in the OBC category that has not received much representation, which led to his nomination. A leader with an RSS background, Kishore has served as ABVP and Yuva Morcha district president.
Meanwhile, Congress had sent three names to the party high command- Raju Poojary, Bhujanga Shetty, and Chandraprakash Shetty. The party on Wednesday evening declared to field Raju Poojary. Raju Poojary, a Congress leader from Udupi district had served as the president of Udupi Zilla Panchayat.
The voters for this election are members of rural and urban local administrations. BJP leaders are confident of winning, claiming they have more voters.
"We have about 1,800 more votes than Congress and are confident of victory. Although the candidate may be unfamiliar to many, the voters will surely support the BJP candidate," a senior BJP leader said.
However, Congress leaders remain optimistic about their chances.
“There is a tough fight ahead. BJP has also fielded a new candidate. We are hopeful of winning this election,” KPCC working president Manjunath Bhandary told Deccan Chronicle.
The seat, traditionally held by Congress, was captured by BJP’s Kota Srinivas Poojary in the 2008 by-election after the death of Congress leader and sitting MLC Blasius M. D’Souza. Srinivas Poojary, who held the seat until 2024, resigned after winning the Udupi-Chikmagalur Parliament seat.
