
Udupi, May 8: K. Gopal Poojary, the president of the Udupi District Congress Committee defeated BJP's B.M. Sukumar Shetty by a margin of 29, 579 votes in Byndoor constituency of Udupi district.
Mr Poojary got 76, 647 votes while Mr Shetty got 47, 068. As many as 13 candidates were in poll fray, which is the highest in Udupi district this time.
Mr. Poojary had won from Byndoor thrice in a row in 1998 (by-poll), 1999 and 2004 Assembly elections. But he lost to K. Lakshminarayana of the BJP in 2008 Assembly elections by a margin of 7,970 votes. Mr. Poojary and Mr. Lakshminarayana had clashed against each other four times in a row in 1998 (by-poll), 1999, 2004 and 2008 Assembly elections. Mr. Poojary had emerged victorious in the first three contests (1998, 1999 and 2004).
This time surprisingly the BJP did not re-nominate Mr. Lakshminarayana. The party gave its ticket to the former managing trustee of Mookambika Temple B.M. Sukumar Shetty. Though Mr. Lakshminarayana expressed his unhappiness at the party's decision of not taking him into confidence, he campaigned for Mr. Shetty in the constituency.


Comments
Add new comment