Karwar: Once a trusted fortress of the Congress party, Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency has been in the grip of BJP for the last two decades.

In the 16 Lok Sabha elections held for the constituency (including the previous north Canara constituency), Congress candidates have registered victory 10 times while BJP has won for six times. 

In the first Lok Sabha election held in the year 1952, Joachim Alva, a prominent Christian figure involved in the Indian independence movement, was elected from the seat as Congress candidate. He was then re-elected in 1957 and 1962 elections.

Later in 1967, poet and educationist, Dinakar Desai entered the fray as an independent candidate and emerged victoriously.

While in 1971 elections, B V Naik was elected MP representing the seat, B P Kadam represented it in 1977. After that, G Devaraya Naik was elected from the Congress for four consecutive times in 1980, 1984, 1989, and 1991. However, in 1996, his winning streak came to a halt with the emergence of Ananthkumar Hegde of the BJP. 

After that, Ananthkumar Hegde went on growing stronger and the constituency sent him to the Lok Sabha for the next two times by electing him in 1996 and 1998. He faced a setback for one term in 1999 elections when Margaret Alva was elected as north Canara MP. However, Hegde returned with a bang in 2004 elections and continued to win in 2009 and 2014 elections even after the delimitation.

BJP jumps in

“In 1996, there was a wave against the ruling administration and taking advantage of this, BJP caught hold of the constituency. Some untoward incidents which took place in and around the district were also responsible for the Congress losing the seat. However, Congress never recuperated and its candidates continued to face defeat except in 1999 elections,” said a Congress leader.

The leader said that the local Congress leaders failed to match the pace with which the BJP leaders began gaining hold over the constituency. Lack of unity among the Congress leaders of the district and absence of a stronger leader resulted in Congress becoming weaker in the percentage of votes polled too.

Present situation

This time, the Congress has given away Uttara Kannada constituency to the JD(S) as part of the seat-sharing deal and Anand Asnotikar is the probable JD(S) candidate. But with JD(S) hardly having any presence in the district, it would have to struggle to wrest the seat from the BJP’s ‘winning horse’.