Karnataka Election Results: Coastal Karnataka shows that it stands with the BJP

BJP leader Mahesh Tenginkai celebrates after his win in the Karnataka Assembly elections, in Hubballi (PTI Photo)

Dakshina Kannada, the stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party, once again voted as expected to keep the saffron flag flying, and was oblivious to the Congress victory all around. But the bastion saw some chinks, with the Grand Old Party doubling its 2018 count.

While Udupi sent all the five BJP legislators to the assembly, BJP managed to win six of the eight Dakshina Kannada constituencies, with Congress winning Puttur and Mangalore, where UT Khader, a former Congress minister, retained his seat.

But it was in Uttara Kannada that Congress won four seats, two more than its 2018 tally of two, and BJP managed only two. Thus BJP retained 13 of the 19 seats in the region and lost three sitting MLAs, while Congress increased its seats from three in 2018 to six now.

Despite the saffron domination in Dakshina Kannada, Congress stalwart UT Khader, who enjoys the support of a majority of Muslims, was seen playing cricket on counting day. He won with a margin of 22,977 against BJP’s Satish Kumpala. Khader’s margin was 4,000 more than in 2018.

In Sirsi, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri of the BJP was defeated by Bhimanna Naik of Congress by 8,712 votes.

While Congress made a clean-sweep of Ballari district, BJP returned the compliment in Udupi district, the only two districts which voted a single party in all the assembly constituencies.

While Congress made a clean-sweep of Ballari and Kodagu districts, BJP returned the compliment in Udupi. These are the only three districts which voted a single party to power in all the assembly constituencies. Kodagu is a small constituency with just two seats.

Coastal Karnataka is the smallest region of the state. Even in 2013, when Yediyurappa and the Reddy brothers split the party, BJP recorded its highest vote share of 34 percent in Coastal Karnataka. Excessive sand mining and illegal constructions have led to massive coastal erosion, but these issues did not come into play with the disciplined cadre-building and strong organisational structure of the saffron party.

Despite the Hindutva plank not playing a big role in these polls, the region, which saw the polarising issues of love jihad and hijab in the recent past, more or less voted for status quo. State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, and former union minister Ananthkumar Hegde, hail from this region.

The Canara region, also known as Karavali, consists of three districts along the coast of the Arabian Sea namely, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada, all of which are considered a citadel of the saffron party.