JD(S) making headway in Uttara Kannada

Karwar: Whoever said JD(S) was only strong in the old Mysore region must take a look at the political developments in Uttara Kannada district- at least in two assembly constituencies -Kumta and Haliyal which are gathering favourable winds for JDS.

The JD(S) leaders HD Kumaraswamy and CM Ibrahim have made a covenant with two leaders in these two assembly constituencies namely SL Ghotnekar in Haliyal and Suraj Naik Soni in Kumta. SL Ghotnekar who is a tall Maratha leader in Uttara Kannada has decided to contest from Haliyal and Suraj Naik Soni from Kumta from the JD(S) ticket. Both are leaders in their own rights but had long innings in politics in the past.

Suraj Naik Soni joined the JD(S) recently after dabbling with other parties. He had been with the JD(S) before but lost touch after he had come so close to becoming a BJP candidate in Kumta in 2018 at the last minute the saffron party had ditched him. He was also looking for openings in other parties which did not work out. In 2018 he contested as an independent and polled 22,000 votes in his individual capacity, he held a rally in Kumta where over a lakh people joined in segments between Honnavar to Kumta in October 2022 demanding the multi-speciality hospital in Kumta.

In Haliyal, SL Ghotnekar had a strong Maratha vote base of 60,000 votes in Haliyal 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.

The Padmanabha Nagar residence of Deve Gowda is now filled with hopes of re-entering Uttara Kannada politics. JD(S) leaders told this correspondent that in coming days the party Chief HD Kumaraswamy will tour both Haliyal and Kumta and re-energise the party cadres.