Karnataka elections 2023: JDS makes little headway in Uttara Kannada region

With Karnataka Assembly elections 2023 in sight, Janata Dal (Secular) the oldest surviving regional party, which currently thrives mainly on its Vokkaliga vote bank, has so far made little headway in Uttara Kannada region- at least in two assembly constituencies -Kumta and Haliyal.

With the recent development and the addition of prominent leaders from the Congress and BJP parties to the JD(S), it shows that the politics in Uttara Kannada is set to pause for adjustments. Though the regional party has no strong cadre or base in North Karnataka, but many want to contest elections on its ticket now. However, the new inductees into the party are an expected trend since JD(S) doesn't have strong candidates in many constituencies.

Beyond old Mysuru region

Former MLC and erstwhile Congressman from Uttara Kannada district SL Ghotnekar who had recently quit the grand old party has decided to contest from Haliyal and Suraj Naik Soni from Kumta.

SL Ghotnekar, a leader of the majority Maratha community in the Haliyal-Joida Assembly segment of the Uttara Kannada parliamentary constituency, had joined JDS after a four-decade association, with Congress. His decision to quit the grand old party was due to the highhandedness of the 6 times MLA (incumbent) RV Deshpande.

In Haliyal constituency, SL Ghotnekar has a strong Maratha vote base of 60,000 votes and had been kept at the threshold for over 30 years. He has now defected to JDS and is stated to be surging in gaining the support of not just Marathas but also of Namdharis and other Micro OBCs.

In 2018 assembly elections, SL Ghotnekar had contested as an independent and polled 22,000 votes in his individual capacity.

Meanwhile, in Kumta constituency after Suraj Naik Soni joined JDS it has now proved to be a major vote cutter for both BJP and Congress. The sitting MLA of Kumta constituency is Dinakar Keshav Shetty from BJP. He won the Kumta seat first in 2008 with a ticket from JD(S). Later, he defected to BJP and won the 2018 assembly elections. In the 2013 assembly elections, Sharada Mohan Shetiy won the seat on a Congress ticket.

In 2023, Dinakar Keshav Shetty, Dr GG Hegde, Nagaraj Naik Torke, Subraya Walke, and M.G. Bhatt is in contention for the BJP ticket. Meanwhile, Ananth Kumar Hegde, MP for Uttara Kannada district, has also earlier indicated that he would contest from Kumta assembly constituency.

On the other hand, in Congress, Sharada Mohan Shetiy, Krishna Byre Gowda, Bhaskar Patagar, Shivananda Hegde and RH. Naik is in contention.

Although the JDS is facing internal challenges and allegations of nepotism, HD Kumaraswamy is confident of a full mandate for the JD(S) in the upcoming assembly polls.