Mangalore, Apr 1: Since 1972 when Congress fielded Eddie Saldanha, the Mangalore constituency has to date remained the reserved constituency for Christian candidates from the party.
Three Christians have represented the constituency so far. Five Christian candidates have been fielded by the Congress from this constituency in the past.
In 1972, Eddie Saldanha was elected MLA from the region followed by P F Rodrigues in 1978, both fielded by the Congress.
In 1983, the BJP snatched this constituency away from the Congress when Dhananjay Kumar defeated Mr. Rodrigues. However, Congress regained this lost ground when Blasius D'Souza won in the 1985 Assembly elections. Mr. D'Souza tasted more success in the 1989 elections by defeating Yogish Bhat of the BJP. But, soon history was going to be written. Mr.Bhat, who won from the constituency in 1994, and has had no looking back since then winning a record four consecutive times and continues to be the constituency's MLA to date.
Division
The Mangalore constituency was later divided and the constituency in question came to be known as Mangalore South. This division however made little impact on Mr. Bhat's fortunes as he maintained his winning streak in the region. In the last Assembly elections, he won with a margin of 8,760 votes defeating Congress candidate Ivan D'Souza.
Although it is more or less certain that BJP will persist with Mr.Bhat from Mangalore South constituency, Shrikar Prabhu is also believed to be in the race this election.
While Mr.Bhat has remained the BJP's trump card in Mangalore constituency ever since 1994, the Congress fielded three different candidates against him during this period. While Blasius D'Souza was pitted against him in the beginning, Lancelot Pinto and Ivan D'Souza were the other two candidates to have faced him, only to taste defeat.
Precursor
The recent ULB poll results however have given Congress hope of victory in the constituency. The Mangalore South constituency encompasses a wide area of the Mangalore City Corporation jurisdiction. A total of 38 out of the 60 wards of MCC fall in the limits of Mangalore South constituency. In the 2007 MCC elections, the BJP had secured 22 seats while the Congress had to remain contented with 11. In the recently concluded MCC elections, the Congress bagged 52,401 votes in all these 38 wards, 7,837 votes more than the BJP. Although B Janardhana Poojary had lost Lok Sabha elections in 2009, Congress had secured 4,582 votes more than BJP as far as Mangalore South constituency is concerned.
The positive returns in local body elections have triggered a tougher fight for election ticket in Congress circles from this constituency. It has been for long said that the tug of war is directly between Ivan D'Souza and new entrant in the party J R Lobo, who is familiar with the pulse of the city for having served as the former Commissioner of MCC. Industrialist Rohan Monteiro is also in the fray, it is learnt.
From 1972, the Mangalore South constituency has remained Congress's reserved constituency for Christian candidates. In the last 10 Assembly elections, the Congress has consecutively fielded Christian candidates. The Congress has tasted defeat in the last four elections here along with the 1983 defeat. But the party has continued to reserve it for Christians.
Christian candidates are fielded by Congress in only two out of the 224 constituencies in the state. If Christian candidates are deprived of this representation too, then there is the danger of Christian voters turning their back on the Congress and voting for BJP, JD(S) and other parties. Hence, irrespective of whether Congress wins or loses in Mangalore South constituency, a Christian candidate is fielded from there, to maintain an overall impact on poll results in the state, explains a senior Congress leader.
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