The BJP bagged the Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha seat for the ninth consecutive term, in the elections held to the 18th Lok Sabha. The seat, which the Congress had lost to the BJP in 1991 elections, continued to remain a mirage for the grand old party.
BJP candidate Captain Brijesh Chowta defeated Padmaraj R. Poojary of the Congress by a margin of 1,49,208 votes. Both were novices to Lok Sabha elections.
Captain Chowta polled 7,64,132 votes (53.97%) while Mr. Poojary could get 6,14,924 votes (43.43%).
Captain Brijesh Chowta celebrating with BJP party workers in front of the counting centre at NITK Surathkal in Mangaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
BJP vote share declines
When compared to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP lost its vote share while the Congress managed to increase it.
The vote share of the BJP came down from 57.55% (7,74,285 votes) in 2019 elections to 53.97% (7,64,132 votes) in 2024. While the Congress increased its vote share considerably from 37.14 % (4,99,664 votes) to 43.43 % (6,14,924 votes) in 2024. The Congress changing its candidate and its field work appears to have paid some dividends though it could not win the seat. The results also indicated that all is not well within the party as its leaders had set a target of winning the seat by a margin of three lakh votes.
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) which had secured the third place by bagging 46,839 votes (3.48%) in the 2019 elections did not field its candidate in 2024 elections.
Captain Chowta, hailing from Mangaluru, did his B.Sc in St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru, in 2002. He served in the Army (Short Service Commission) from 2003 to 2010. He did his Executive Business Management Programme at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, in 2011. He has been in the party organisation in various capacities since 2013. He has been organising Mangaluru Kambala for the past six years, and is associated with organising Mangaluru Litfest.
BJP party workers celebrating the victory of Captain Brijesh Chowta in Lok Sabha election, in Mangaluru on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
Ram Rath Yatra helped BJP
The BJP, which contested its first two elections unsuccessfully in 1984 and in 1989, captured the seat in its third attempt in 1991.
The Ram Rath Yatra led by the then BJP national president L.K. Advani in the coastal belt in 1990 changed the political direction of Dakshina Kannada in the 1991 Lok Sabha election in favour of the party. The next BJP national president Murli Manohar Joshi’s Ekta Yatra in 1991-92 helped the saffron party consolidate its ground.
Published - June 04, 2024 10:46 pm IST
