Udupi bypoll: Jayaprakash Hegde wins battle for Congress ticket

February 20, 2012

Udupi, February 20: The name of former Minister Jayaprakash Hegde has almost been finalized as the Congress candidate for the Loksabha by-election for the Udupi-Chikmaglur constituency scheduled for March 18.

The high-level Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting held in Bangalore on Sunday once again decided to recommend Mr. Hegde's name to the party high command as its official candidate.

The meeting convened to discuss the preparations for the forthcoming byelection was attended among others by KPCC president G. Parameshwar, Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, Opposition leader in the Legislative Council Motamma, MP H. Vishwanath.

The meeting discussed a wide range of issues including the selection of the candidate, preparation for the election, organizing party workers etc.

Although B L Shankar, D K Taradevi and Vinaya Kumar Sorake had emerged as possible candidates, the leaders decided to go with Mr. Hegde, who had unsuccessfully contested against D.V. Sadananda Gowda in 2009. The seat has become vacant after Gowda took over as the chief minister of the State.

According to KPCC sources, the party would officially announce its candidate on Wednesday.

The party will have to tread carefully while choosing candidate as the parliamentary constituency has four each assembly segments of the coast and Malnad region which are diverse in culture as well as political affiliations.

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Why Mangaluru Could Become India’s Next Offshore Wind Energy Hub

News Network

February 3,2026

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta has urged the Centre to give high priority to offshore wind energy generation along the Mangaluru coast, citing its strategic importance to India’s green energy and port-led development goals.

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha under Rule 377, Chowta said studies by the National Institute of Oceanography have identified the Mangaluru coastline as part of India’s promising offshore wind ‘Zone-2’, covering nearly 6,490 sq km. He noted that the region’s relatively low exposure to cyclones and earthquakes makes it suitable for long-term offshore wind projects and called for its development as a dedicated offshore wind energy zone.

Highlighting the role of New Mangalore Port, Chowta said its modern infrastructure, multiple berths and heavy cargo-handling capacity position it well as a logistics hub for transporting and assembling large wind energy equipment.

He also pointed to the presence of major industrial units such as MRPL, OMPL, UPCL and the Mangaluru SEZ, which could serve as direct buyers of green power through power purchase agreements, improving project viability and speeding up execution.

With Karnataka’s peak power demand crossing 18,000 MW in early 2025, Chowta stressed the need to diversify renewable energy sources. He added that offshore wind projects in the Arabian Sea are strategically safer compared to the cyclone-prone Bay of Bengal.

Calling the project vital to India’s target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, Chowta urged the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to initiate resource assessments, pilot projects and stakeholder consultations at the earliest.

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