Mangaluru: Battle for the Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency has already begun, with major political parties like the BJP and the Congress-JDS alliance having filed their nominations. Though the candidates and their supporters have already begun campaigning, it is evident that both the BJP’s Nalin Kumar Kateel and Congress’ Mithun Rai are not free from opposition.
The BJP high command chose sitting MP Nalin Kumar Kateel to contest in the election despite there being stiff opposition to his candidature. A few days ago, an audio clipping of two party workers discussing their displeasure with Nalin’s candidature went viral. Meanwhile, one of the BJP workers, in an audio clipping, threatened to consume poison, if Nalin is once again selected as the candidate from the Mangalru constituency.
It can be noted that, when reporters sought the response of Dakshina Kannada district BJP President and Puttur MLA Sanjeeva Matandoor regarding the issue, he had informed that they would not give much importance to social media.
In the meanwhile, Mithun Rai, the Congress-JDS alliance candidate is also facing opposition. Congress youth leader, Puneeth Shetty had floated a video clipping opposing Mithun Rai’s candidature, on social media, claiming that Rai is a ‘goonda’. In the video, Shetty informed that there are 28 criminal cases against Mithun Rai, including a charge for the murder of Jaleel Karopady. He urged the Congress high command to replace Mithun Rai with any other senior leader. However, no changes have been made in the candidate as the due date for filing nominations (March 26) has already passed.
BJP’s slogan ‘NaMo again’
Now that the opposition campaign against both the parties’ candidates is spreading a negative image on social media, the voters are confused as to whom they should elect. In this regard, the BJP leaders have pleaded with the public to vote for the party candidate in order to re-elect Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. The BJP’s campaigns like ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar ‘ and ‘Mai Bhi Chowkidar’ are also aimed at securing votes for Modi, instead of their candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel in Mangaluru or any other Lok Sabha constituency.
Congress’ slogan ‘Vote for us to bring development and communal harmony’
Meanwhile, the Congress is relying on their promise to bring development and communal harmony in the district, instead of seeking votes for their prime ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi. They have been highlighting sitting MP Nalin’s failures in order to secure the confidence of the voters. Pointing out issues like the delay in completing the Thokkottu and Pumpwell flyovers, national highway widening work at B C Road and the Kulshekar-Moodbidri-Karkal national highway among others. They are also urging the voters to replace the ‘non-performing’ and ‘inactive’ MP Nalin with the ‘active’ and ‘youth icon’ Mithun Rai.
Despite all the smear campaigns and the fact that the SDPI, BSP, HJP and some other independent candidates are also in the fray, there is no doubt that the Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency is the battlefield for the Congress and the BJP alone.
