In Mangalore north, communal politics takes a back seat as pollution is an issue

Mangalore north would be an interesting constituency to watch out for. Mohiyuddin Bava of the Congress is looking to defend his seat and up against him is Dr Y Bharat Shetty of the BJP who is looking to make his debut in the Karnataka legislative assembly.

The constituency has had the tag of communally sensitive due to several incidents in the past, but both candidates are not playing that card and sticking to other pressing issues such as health and pollution.

The constituency is divided into urban and rural. While 60 per cent of the constituency comprises urban areas, the rest fall under rural which include several gram panchayats.

While the coast under which this constituency falls has been dubbed as a Hindutva laboratory, this time around the campaigning is revolving around more hard pressing issues.

One of the key issues that this constituency faces is pollution. There have been demonstrations galore seeking action against the industries which are polluting the environment.

Bava says that he is confident of retaining the constituency and says that it is the developmental work that he undertook which will ensure him victory.

Many analysts also say that the Congress is better placed in this constituency and the BJP may have gone wrong in its choice of candidate. Dr Shetty is a new face and he may find the going tough against a seasoned Bava. Further the selection of Dr Shetty has not gone down too well with old timers such as Krishna Palemar, former minister in the BJP government. Other leaders like Satyajit Suratkal and Vijay Kumar Shetty too were in the running for this seat, but they ended up protesting openly after not being given a ticket.