Coalition that won in seat sharing
One of the major achievements of coalition government in the state is to have successful and uncomplicated closure of seat sharing deal. CM Kumaraswamy kept repeating that they are not beggars by that way warning the coalition partner Congress of their requirement of seats. If there was a difference of opinion in seat sharing it would have had its impact not only on the lok Sabha elections but also on the government that is running the state.
Even the BJP was waiting for this opportunity. But Congress set aside its pride, provision and reached an understanding with the JDS in seat sharing. This proves the fact that Congress has learnt its lessons from its past failures. BJP is very disappointed by the fact that Congress did not throw tantrums to let go of Tumkur Mandya Chikmagalur and Udupi constituencies to JDS. Coalition partners have managed the first step towards a successful election very amicably. This understanding between Congress and JDS is bound to have a very positive impact on the Lok Sabha elections.
Actor Ambarish's wife is a big challenge for the grandson of HD Deve Gowda in Mandya. Many major leaders within JDS are not very happy with the fact that Gowda's grandson Nikhil has been chosen over other deserving candidates to represent Mandya. This is an unfathomable development for the party members. At the same time there is a huge demand from Congress workers who feel Congress loyalist late Ambarish's wife Sumalatha should be supported by the party to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
However since Mandya has been ceded to JDS, Congress cannot support Sumalatha. Hence now it has become inevitable for Sumalatha to fight the election from BJP. If she joins BJP she will lose the conventional Congress vote bank. Congress workers will never be able to identify with Sumalatha if she joins BJP. Hence Sumalatha has exhibited a very smart and strategic move by almost deciding to contest as an independent candidate.
If she stands as an independent candidate BJP has a plan to not field any candidate against Sumalatha and support her candidature. Sumalatha is already dreaming of a victory that would be caused by dividing the Congress words and gaining the support of BJP and their votes. But Ambarish had lost his political charm during his last days since he had failed to fulfill the desires and expectations of the people who had elected him to his seat. However if the caste politics that is so deeply engraved in the Mandya psyche continues, victory may be a difficult proposition for Sumalatha and Nikhil may sweep the polls. Letting go of Udupi and Chikmagalur seat to JDS by the Congress has taken many by surprise.
JDS has not had any root level worker base in Chikmagalur or Udupi. Comparatively Chikmagalur is a little better than Udupi as far as JDS is concerned. Many Congress leaders who wanted to contest from Udupi are very disappointed. Inclined towards soft hindutva, leaders like Vinay Kumar Sorake and Pramod Madhwaraj cannot be very committed to campaign for JDS candidate in Udupi. With half their mind in BJP, one cannot totally trust them to work for Congress; instead they might work to benefit the BJP.
Under such circumstances JDS has to choose its candidate to represent this constituency. Right now Y S V Datta's name is being floated for this space. And to reach voters surfacing the aggressive hindutva agenda that has already been spread over by the BJP is not an easy task for Datta. Compared to immature and disrespectful candidate like Shobha Karandlaje, Datta is a better candidate anyday. This time there is dissidents against Shobha's candidature within the BJP itself, so this may work for the benefit of JDS. Mangaluru Lok Sabha constituency has raked a lot of interest. BJP has been winning this seat from last three decades.
Janardhan Poojary has set a record of sorts by continuously losing this seat. Politically Poojary has retired from the field. For the first time Congress has chosen to find some other candidate to this seat apart from Poojary. Billava community plays a constructive role in electoral victories in coastal Karnataka. Hundreds of young Billava men have been jailed under various charges fighting for political ends in coastal Karnataka. BJP has been successful in ensuring there are no Billava leaders that come out of the Billava community that supports the party. Congress ensured Poojary grew into a national level leader, while BJP pushed him to the corner.
Billawas today are just a force to reckon by in electoral politics without having a single leader to represent them at any level. Looks like Congress will consider Billava candidates to represent the party in Lok Sabha elections. Vinay Kumar Sorake is an ideal candidate, his soft hindutva stance and the anger of Muslims against him have made him and undesirable candidate for the elections. He has ceased to be relevant to coastal Karnataka. Another leader who can able to represent Billava community is BK Hariprasad and his name is in much circulation.
Congress does not seem to have any choice in the given situation and it is becoming more and more obvious. Politically immature and inactive politician Nalin Kumar Kateel of BJP has become irrelevant already. His victory is dependent on just two factors that is Modi and Hindutva. This apart, handing over Tumkur to JDS has enraged Congress workers in at area. Just being coalition partners does not ensure victory for mutual convenient candidates. Only when both party base and workers try to win elections. Coalition becomes meaningful when leaders of both parties understand this.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
