Gopal Poojary beats 12 in fray, marks victory

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.

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Mangaluru Airport turns political stage: Congress workers chant for DKS as Venugopal arrives

News Network

December 3,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 3: A group of Congress workers gathered at the Mangaluru International Airport on Wednesday to welcome AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, but the reception quickly turned into a display of support for Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Venugopal arrived in the city to participate in the centenary commemoration of the historic dialogue between Mahatma Gandhi and Narayana Guru. The event, organised by the Sivagiri Mutt, Varkala, in association with the Mangalore University Sri Narayana Guru Study Chair, is being held on the university’s Konaje campus.

KPCC general secretary Mithun Rai and several party workers had assembled at the airport to receive Venugopal. However, the moment he stepped out, workers began raising slogans backing Shivakumar.

The university programme will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

This show of support comes just a day after Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar would lead the government “when the high command decides.” The chief minister made the comment after a breakfast meeting at Shivakumar’s residence—another public display of camaraderie between the two leaders amid ongoing attempts by the party high command to downplay their leadership rivalry.

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