Mangaluru: The final list of Congress candidates that was announced by the party on April 19 led to a turn of events in the coastal constituency. The decision made by Congress to field the KPCC General Secretary has led to a strong ticket aspirant to join Janata Dal Secular (JDS).
Inayat Ali Mulki, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary was named by the party as the candidate for Mangaluru North constituency. While this happened, Moideen Bava, the ticket aspirant from the constituency saw no future in Congress and joined JD (S).
Moideen Bava, the Congress leader who in 2013, ended the BJP’s streak in Mangaluru North has rebelled against the Congress decision and made an interesting claim while he was at it. While speaking to the mediapersons, Bava mentioned that he shifted loyalties because he felt that the Congress didn’t do justice to his political potential.
What is also interesting is that Bava made an accusation against KPCC President, D. K. Shivakumar. After the announcement of Inayat Ali’s candidature, Bava said that Shivakumar “sold” the ticket to Inayat Ali. This claim could however, be brushed aside as a vengeful political statement.
Moving on, the Congress knew that Moideen Bava was a formidable weapon against BJP’s Dr. Bharath Shetty in Mangaluru North constituency. In 2018, Bava lost by a margin of just 26,600 votes against Bharath Shetty. Nevertheless, Bava was that capable candidate that the Congress lost.
On April 20, Bava met JD (S) Supremo, H. D. Deve Gowda and discussed his future in JD (S). After this development, Bava was declared the JD (S) candidate for Mangaluru North constituency. With this, Bava has officially brought JD (S) to the fore on the shore of Mangaluru.
Although the BJP won’t be affected much by this development, the Congress will surely feel the pinch. Bharath Shetty’s voters mostly comprise his supporters and BJP supporters which are high in number in the constituency.
Bava’s voters on the other hand, are loyal to his cause. As he has been the face of Mangaluru North when the fight was just between BJP and Congress, Bava also had brought the Congress to power once in 2013 and a majority of his supporters still trust his political capability.
Considering these factors and the fact that he got another chance at contesting, a chance that was denied to him by the Congress, Moideen Bava will inevitably end up splitting Congress votes.