BJP gears for council elections well in advance

Mangalore, February 5: The elections to South-West Teachers' and Graduates' constituencies of Karnataka legislative council is a good five months away. Yet, raising the bar for these elections is BJP, which has won the South-West Graduates' constituency four times since it was set up in 1988 and the Teachers' Constituency three times. Party candidate K Sanjeeva Shetty lost the maiden election here in 1988 by just 44 votes.

Explaining the importance that BJP attaches to these constituencies with the above history was council chairman D H Shankaramurthy. Elected four successive times from South-West Graduates' constituency comprising Shimoga, DK, Udupi, Chikmagalur and Kodagu and Channagiri and Honnalli taluks of Davanagere district, Shankaramurthy said this is the same result that party expects in the elections scheduled for June.

At a preparatory meeting here on Saturday, he reminded the party workers that candidates who contested against him in elections held in 1988 -- when he was relatively unknown in state politics -- and in 1994, 2000 and 2006, had lost their deposits. Shankaramurthy said onus is on party workers to do the same this time. "This, and South-West Teachers' constituency, where Ganesh Karnik is the party candidate, should bring resounding win for BJP," he said.

Noting that 1/3rd of the 75 members of the council retire every two years, Shankaramrthy said 10 of the 20 members whose terms end in June are from BJP. "Four out of six retiring from teachers and graduates constituencies, two out of three nominated members, and four out of 11 members voted by MLAs to the council are from the BJP," he said, adding that it is imperative that the BJP wins these seats as and when they fall vacant.

Shankaramurthy told workers that the onus of preparation of voters' list for the graduate's constituency is prepared with the active participation of graduates. An SC ruling has permitted for fresh additions/ deletions of names in the voters' list for this constituency, unlike the voters' list of teachers' constituency which is declared defunct after the previous elections and has to be prepared afresh by way of registrations. Party workers will form primary tool for the candidates to reach out to the electorate spread across nearly 34 assembly constituencies, he said, exhorting each of them to remind the voters on the BJP government's achievements in the field of education. "Karnataka today is the highest-spending government in the field of education and had earmarked Rs 12,600 crore out of total outlay of Rs 78,000 crore, and would continue to do so," he said.